Call of the Wild
by The Silent Scream
Summary: Destiny has never been set in stone. Haruka should have been Sailor Uranus, but something else got to her first, leading her down a very different path... but one which still might end up at Michiru's side. Rating may change with later chapters.
1. Chapter 1

Author's Note: So, I used to be this big fan of Sailor Moon when I was a kid. Now, like 15 years or more later (ugh, I feel old), a TV channel here starts showing it again, and of course I got hooked on it all over again. Already back then, Uranus and Neptune were my faves, and since my muse is a fickle thing, it is not really a surprise she coughed up a story idea for those two. The theme of it was kinda surprising to me, but I hope I can do the show justice.

Disclaimer: None of this is mine. Just borrowing it for a while to play around, then I'll put it back!

Call of the Wild

The night smelled of death and blood and terror, the crackling of the flames the only sound audible at first. Only to someone who would take a moment to listen closer, the other sound was becoming clear, the small wails of a terrified child; and not too long after, dark shapes were drawn in by the noise, padding closer to the wrecked car on all fours, only straightening up on two when they had gotten close enough to see, their shapes changing and shifting as they took in the wreckage.

"The child lives", one of them pointed out what they all could hear anyway, "what shall happen with it?"

"We can't just kill it", another one said, yellow eyes flashing as he looked from the wreckage to his mates, "but it is not one of us."

"That can be changed", the tallest of them said, ignoring the gasps from his mates, "as you all know."

"It might still die then", another one cautioned, "it would be a mercy to kill it now and spare it the pain."

"No", the tallest of them snapped, a distinctive growl in his voice, "we will not kill this child. Take it."

For a moment, the others looked as if they wanted to argue; then, they complied, one of them gingerly stepping closer to the burning wreckage, mindful of the flames as he wrenched the back door open with a powerful pull, the child only wailing louder in response, the helpless cries of a baby who had no inkling of what was happening.

"Shush, little one", he mumbled, carefully reaching into the car, still weary of the fire; the baby hadn't been hurt in the crash, not even a hair singed, but the flames were spreading quickly, and his kind feared fire. If anyone else had told him to get the kid, he would have refused; there was no way to refuse the tall man though, and thus, he did as he had been told, acting with exceeding care, mindful of his strength as he opened the seat belt.

Then, he took hold of the crying child. He lifted it out of the car, away from the flames and from the harm they might have done. And destiny shattered.

* * *

"_Deep… Submerge!" _The attack didn't come with as much fervour as it usually did, not after Neptune had used it for the seventh or eighth time in a row now; still, the monster didn't go down, but kept screeching at her, the leap she had to perform to get out of harm's way when it threw another attack at her not as powerful and wide as her jumps had been mere minutes ago.

Breathing heavily, she clenched her fists, telling herself that there was no time for weakness now, that she had to get rid of this thing before it might hurt anyone; the monster screeched at her again, then forced her to leap out of the way once more as another attack followed it, the ground breaking and smoking when it hit.

Gritting her teeth, Neptune called upon her power once more, feeling the energy crackle against her hands as she yelled out her attack; the glowing bright ball of energy shot from her palm, and this time, it finally was enough, the monster letting out a terrified cry before it vanished into nothingness, leaving only one of the strange capsules they seemed to come from behind, a heavy breath coming from Neptune again as the capsule broke open and a tiny, oddly shrieking shadow emerged from it, vanishing into nothingness seconds later.

At least, Neptune reflected, no one was around to watch the brief moment of weakness she now allowed herself as she slumped down to the ground, ending up on her knees; momentarily, she felt so tired that she was sure she would just fall asleep on the spot, an easy target for anyone who might be after her, now that the monster had been vanquished.

Again, the strange sensation that this was wrong filled her while she forced herself to her feet again; she couldn't tell why, but simply _knew _that she wasn't supposed to do this alone, that there should have been another one with her, the tall, shadowy figure she saw in her dreams, standing by her side and fighting all those battles with her.

Trying to ignore the weariness which had come over her limbs, she forced herself to her feet, momentarily staggering, then regaining her balance; she took a moment to glance around, just to make sure that no other monster would pop up from God knew where, then got moving, her steps slow as she looked for a spot in which she could change back.

To her relief, such a spot was quickly found, in form of a more or less hidden doorway in a small side alley; the transformation back to her regular, civilian form didn't take long, but losing all the extra energy being a Sailor Senshi granted her had taken its toll on her, and she had to fight to stay on her feet, telling herself that surely, it wouldn't be fitting for someone of her fame and fortune to be found snoring away in a dingy side street.

_Get a hold of yourself, Michiru, _she mentally prep-talked herself, not giving in to the urge to grab the wall for support as she got moving again, _just make it to the next café or something, take a seat there and get a cold drink, and it'll be alright. Or perhaps some coffee, a little pick-me-up._

The mere thought gave her strength, and she straightened up as she kept walking, her head held high; to anyone who didn't know her, she might have appeared arrogant, but someone who did know her well would have seen the tiredness, the strain her life put on her, fighting monsters almost daily and doing it all on her own.

_This is wrong, _the young woman thought to herself as she kept moving, spotting the sign of an arcade up ahead; normally, this wouldn't have been her first choice for rest, but from what she could tell, it was the nearest place with an option to sit down and have a drink, _something is wrong, you are not supposed to do this alone. You never were._

While she entered the arcade and moved to the counter, ignoring the two girls squabbling over something there, she thought of her dreams again, of the figure she saw in them; she never saw the other woman's face, her features always hidden in shadow, but only ever could make out her silhouette, a tall and lean form, still strangely familiar, despite how little she saw of her whenever she dreamt of her.

At first, those dreams had been rare, happening maybe once or twice a month right after she had been awakened and had accepted her destiny as Sailor Neptune; now though, a few months later and after she had followed the call of the sea to Tokyo, she had them every single night, and more often than not found that she had been crying after waking up, tears drying on her cheeks and on the pillow.

"Hello", the voice of the young guy manning the counter tore her out of her musings, his unexpected addressing of her almost making her flinch, her instincts still alert so shortly after the battle, "can I get you something? Or do you want change for our machines?"

"Coffee", she gave back, adding a "please" at the last moment as she remembered her manners; if he had noticed her brief lapse of etiquette, he ignored it, merely nodding before he turned away from her to prepare her drink, leaving her alone with her thoughts once more.

Briefly, Michiru was grateful that apparently, the young man only wanted to do his job and didn't try to hit on her; after such an exhausting battle, the last thing she needed was a man trying to woo her, the mere thought making her roll her eyes – before a shriek reached her ears and she immediately tensed, suddenly sure that another attack was following, her heart speeding up as she felt a flash of fear, asking herself if she'd be able to handle it, exhausted as she was.

Then, she realized that it had been one of the two girls shrieking, and that an attack wasn't the reason for her cry; by now, the two of them had moved from the counter to one of the arcade machines, a racing game, Michiru noted, and apparently, one of them had failed at the game quite spectacularly, hanging over the steering wheel now while the other one was laughing gleefully and claiming that she'd be Formula One Champion soon.

For a moment, Michiru allowed herself to be envious of them, of their carefree and obviously happy lives; ever since she had accepted her calling, her carefree days were over, but at least, she knew that now, she had found her purpose in life, something the two blonde girls clearly still were looking for, with their biggest worry perhaps the next test at school or their parents cutting their allowance for whatever transgression they were found guilty of.

To her dismay, as she watched them, the feeling of _wrongness _came over her again, this time so strong that it send a shiver down her spine; and for just a second, it seemed as if one of the girls, the one with little talent for the game, set apart from any crowd by her hairstyle in form of two freakishly long pigtails, was feeling something too, her posture briefly going rigid as she glanced around, almost as if she expected something to happen.

For just the blink of an eye, her gaze met Michiru's, and during this split second, the aqua haired girl felt strangely drawn to the other one; then, the blonde girl's eyes moved on, and the feeling was gone, only the wrongness remaining, the feeling that something which should have happened wasn't happening, that a connection which should have been hadn't been established.

"Your coffee, Miss", the young man's voice distracted her yet again, prompting her to turn and look at him; at her questioningly raised eyebrow, he told her how much she owed him, and after she had paid, she focused on the cup of black liquid, refusing to give him even the slightest opening for small talk, a tactic which worked well since he just hovered there for half a minute, then drifted away again, giving her some peace and quiet.

Holding back a sigh, not wanting to attract his attention again, Michiru took a careful sip of the hot coffee, briefly closing her eyes as she dark liquid warmed her; and then, she found herself watching the two blonde girls again, asking herself why all of this felt so wrong and if there was anything she could do to make it right.


	2. Chapter 2

Michiru stayed at the arcade just long enough to finish her coffee, getting up from her seat immediately the second she had swallowed the last drop of the beverage; as she left, she felt the girls watching her, both of them now, but decided to ignore this, telling herself that surely, they were staring at her for the same reason most other people did, to admire her elegance and beauty, and not because they, too, felt that something was wrong.

_Don't be ridiculous, _she chided herself as she walked out of the arcade and started heading towards to the apartment building she lived in, a place where she had been staying for the last three months, but for some reason couldn't call her home yet, _those were just school girls. Childish ones, at that. Just get some sleep, you'll feel better after some rest._

Part of her doubted that this was true, keeping her dreams in mind, the dreams which made her wake up with a heart heavy with longing and with tears drying on her face; she silenced those doubts rigorously though, knowing that, even if she didn't really want to sleep, she had to, had to regain some of the energy she had used during the latest fight.

_I just wish I had the slightest idea what these dreams mean, _she pondered as she kept walking, the caffeine having kicked in at last and making the task of getting home easier for her, _if they are trying to tell me something and I just keep missing it… and who is this woman I keep seeing? Is she a Senshi, like me? And if she is, am I going to meet her? Why do I keep dreaming of her, and why do I feel as if I miss her so much when I wake up, if I don't even know who she is?_

A slight breeze came up, just strong enough to lightly move her hair, and it brought the scent of roses; she stopped dead in her tracks as the odour reached her nostrils, her eyes briefly widening while her heart rate tripled, the scent so familiar and _right _that it brought tears to her eyes.

Not caring if anyone noticed what she was doing and thought that she was some sort of crazy person, she spun around, eyes darting this way and that as she tried to figure out where the scent was coming from, what it meant; that it had to mean something was unquestioned, her strong reaction to it telling her that it was meaningful, and if there was one thing she had learned during her time as a Sailor Senshi, it was to trust her instincts.

For just a second, a name was on the tip of her tongue, the name of another Senshi, named after her planet, just like she had been; and almost, she called for her, already opening her mouth to do so – when the name was gone, as if she had never even been close to knowing it, forcing her to bite back a groan of frustration.

_Get a hold of yourself, _she ordered herself harshly, forcing herself to take in a few deep breaths, _you're making a spectacle of yourself, people are already staring._

Sadly, the last part wasn't something she merely told herself to help herself calm down – a few pedestrians at a nearby pedestrian crossing were looking at her oddly, just like the street vendor with his tray full of little trinkets, and she realized how she had to look like them, standing on the sidewalk and just staring and breathing deeply.

Momentarily, she felt like reassuring them that she was alright, then realized this only would make it worse; and thus, Michiru just kept walking after another second, the scent of roses now gone again, leaving her with a heat heavy with longing yet again, her head now hanging low as she walked, her exhaustion and weariness showing through every step as she moved on to her apartment.

* * *

Whatever cruel entity was responsible for the monster attacks, it clearly was in no mood to let Michiru get some proper rest; she'd had only an hour of lying on her couch, not even sleeping, but merely dozing, when she felt the call of the sea again, unable to hold back a groan as she forced her eyes open.

"Not again, dammit", she complained to no one in particular, for once not acting as elegant and graceful and well-mannered as she usually did, figuring that she could let out her harsher side with no one around anyway, "don't these things have anything better to do?"

Still grumbling and feeling uncharacteristically grumpy, she got up from her all too comfortable couch, not even bothering to put on fresh clothes and merely running her hands through her hair instead of brushing it properly, behaviour which would have been unthinkable for her a year ago, but had become pretty much the norm now, whenever an attack happened while she was relaxing at her place.

Hurriedly, she stepped into her shoes, then left the apartment and shortly afterwards the building; down on the sidewalk, she stopped for a few heartbeats, letting the sea tell her where she had to go, pushing all tiredness aside as she got moving again, reaching for the energy deep within her to be as alert as she could be.

She had done this before, accessing the seemingly endless depot of power while in her civilian form; and thus, she knew that she'd have to pay the price for it later, in form of an exhaustion so big that the state she was in now felt refreshed and perfectly fit, but she also knew that she had no other choice, that she had to be fast and get to the site of the nearest attack as quickly as possible if she wanted to keep people from getting hurt.

Briefly, she allowed herself the hope that this time, she would find what she was looking for, one of the talismans, and that her quest would be shortened accordingly; then, she pushed those thoughts aside, telling herself that she had to find the victim of this newest attack and the monster which had attacked the person first and could worry about the talismans and why she needed to find them later.

Thankfully, at least the attack wasn't happening far from her apartment; this time, the ones behind the creation of the monsters had chosen a car workshop, the mechanic hanging limply from the metal construction the monster had trapped him in, Michiru arriving just in time to see the thing, strangely resembling a racing car, rush away.

"Oh for the love of…", she grumbled to herself, hurriedly calling up her Henshin Stick; after a quick look around to make sure no one was there to see her, she transformed, a surge of fresh energy and strength rushing through her and making her blood boil, a slight smile curling her lips as she took off again, chasing after the monster, a task made easier by the rather distinctive dust clouds the thing was leaving in its wake.

As she got nearer, she could hear it laugh, as well, an annoying, high-pitched sound; it grated on her nerves, especially in combination with the feeling that this was wrong yet again, that this chase and fight should have been different, even though she found herself unable to tell what exactly wasn't right.

_Don't get distracted, _she told herself, forcing her attention back to the task at hand; by now, she was almost close enough to attack, the monster unaware of her as it raced down the road it had chosen for its escape, the position it had to be in to do so only allowing it to look up into the sky, something Neptune found rather impractical for the monster, but quite fortunate for her.

Within seconds, a plan had formed in her mind, how she could use her attacks best to quickly dispatch of the creature; gritting her teeth, she clenched her fist as she called out to her power, the sphere of energy forming a second later; without slowing down, she took careful aim, then released the blast, not even noticing that she held her breath as she waited for it to hit.

To her satisfaction, it hit just where she had intended it to, namely not the monster itself, but the road just slightly ahead it of it; and the crater this tore into the asphalt and the earth beneath had the intended effect, as well, appearing too close and too quickly to let the creature react in time, the high-pitched laughter turning into a startled cry as it toppled into the crater, then lost control fully and crashed, ending up in a heap on the bottom of the hole Neptune had made.

A single, powerful leap brought her to the edge of the hole, where the monster was just beginning to turn around so it'd end up on all fours; it glared up at her, clearly pinpointing her as the one who had done this, but before it could do more than that, Neptune had unleashed her attack yet again, hitting the creature directly this time, a pained cry coming from it as it got thrown flat on its back again.

Only now, she had the chance to take a closer look at the creature, her heart skipping a beat when she couldn't spot the pure heart the monster allegedly had taken; and just as she realized that the pure heart indeed wasn't there, the attack came from behind, a sound which was a mixture of surprise and pain coming from her as something hard brutally slammed into her back, with enough force to throw her down, nearly tossing her into the crater, where the other creature was waiting.

Gasping, she turned to face this new foe, only realizing now how perfectly she had been set up; whoever was behind these attacks clearly had noticed her multiple interferences by now, and had made sure to send two of the creatures this time, one of them remaining hidden until she was fully focused on the other one, giving it the free shot it had needed to gain at least a bit of an advantage.

Where the first creature resembled a racing car, this one looked as if it had been made solely of tires, except for the shockingly large wrench it held in one rubbery hand; this gave Neptune cause to wonder if she actually had been hit with that thing, and how close she had been to having her spine broken – then the monster snarled at her, its free hand coming up and forming a fist, a large glob of rubber shooting from the limb a second later, the Senshi quickly dodging the attack, briefly relieved that clearly, this had been the method the creature had attacked her with when her back had been turned.

Thankfully, she considered, it hadn't been smart enough to just brain her with the wrench while she hadn't even been aware it was there yet; clearly though, it now remembered that it had a weapon made of heavy metal, swinging it threateningly as it advanced, the crater she herself had caused behind her keeping Neptune from moving back.

At least, the monster in said crater was not trying to attack her now, apparently content with just watching; the tire creature let out another snarl, forcing her to daringly dive out of the way as it shot another blob of rubber at her, but this time, she wasn't quite fast enough, some of the sticky material hitting her ankle, a shocked yelp coming from her when immediately, it solidified, part of it now stuck to the asphalt beneath her, making it impossible for her to move away.

Chuckling now, the tire creature advanced, raising the wrench threateningly yet again; it hadn't thought of just hitting her over the head with it when it had come upon her about to kill its comrade, but clearly, this thought had formed in what passed for the thing's brain now, a malicious glint in the monster's black eyes as it stalked closer.

"Deep Submerge", Neptune pressed out, just eager to buy some time so she could figure out how to free herself without actually breaking her ankle; the attack hit the thing and made it stumble back, buying her a few precious seconds which she used to unleash her powers yet again, at the rubber binding her this time, grim satisfaction filling her when immediately, it broke away and she was free.

Hurriedly, she came to her feet again, adrenaline pumping through her and keeping her moving; still, it didn't help to make her move fast enough as the tire monster shrieked in anger at seeing her freed – and then threw the wrench at her, with shocking strength, the air getting knocked out of her as it slammed into her ribcage, the sickening crunch which followed telling her that one or perhaps more of her ribs had been broken by the impact.

Before she even realized that it had happened, she found herself flat on her back, gasping in pain and shocked at how much breathing hurt all of a sudden; the monster let out absurdly gleeful laughter, then moved over to where she laid, a simple kick being enough to throw her back down as she tried to struggle into a sitting position, the fact that the rubbery foot had landed right on the injured area forcing another cry from her throat.

Fighting hard now to stay conscious, all she could do was watch when the creature bent down to pick up the wrench again; with another gleeful laugh, it raised the weapon, and as she waited for it to come down, Neptune realized how wrong all of this was yet again, how wrong it was that she should end like this, beaten to death by some random monster on the street, with another watching her demise – and at the same time finding herself unable to do anything against it, her pain and exhaustion suddenly too great to let her make a move to save herself.


	3. Chapter 3

Neptune's eyes were glued to the wrench as it was raised higher and higher, until it had reached the highest possible point; apparently, time had slowed down to a ridiculous degree, as it just hung there for a while, glinting in the sun, giving her time to wonder how much it would hurt, if the creature would beat her to death sadistically slow or if it would just bash her head in and be done with it.

And then, just as she thought the wrench would descend any moment, the monster glanced to the right, eyes widening in surprise – and that was all it could do as a second later, a tall, lean figure barrelled into it, with enough force to drive it a few steps away from the fallen Senshi, a surprised cry coming from the monster as suddenly, it had to fight to keep its balance.

Struggling into a sitting position despite the by now raging pain in her ribcage, Neptune, to her dismay, found that the monster's bulk was blocking her view on whoever had come to her rescue; obviously though, they were doing quite the damage to the creature, evidenced by the cries of pain it kept letting out, until it finally stumbled back and went down on its knees.

Realizing that this was her chance and that she had to act quickly before the second monster might manage to get out of the crater and attack, Neptune called on her power yet again, hoping with all her heart that whoever had come to help her realized what was about to happen and could get out of the way – the last thing she wanted was to injure her saviour, figuring that this surely was the worst possible way to repay them.

"Deep… Submerge!" she cried, putting as much power as she dared into it; and to her relief, it did the job, the monster letting out another, this time desperate cry – before it vanished into nothingness, the pure heart it had been carrying hidden somewhere within its bulky body floating where it had been standing.

One look told her that it wasn't a talisman, and all at once, she felt weary again, her pain suddenly so much worse as she had to realize that it all had been for nothing; bone-weary now, she slumped back down, staring up at the sky for a few seconds, now able to taste blood on her tongue, idly wondering if something within her had pierced something else when the monster had hit her with the wrench.

"Hey", a low and husky voice reached her ears, accompanied by footsteps approaching her, "don't faint. Sit up."

"Can't", she mumbled in response, a shadow falling over her now as the one who had rescued her stopped by her side, but she found herself suddenly too tired to even turn her head, the way the world was blurring at the edges telling her that she was close to unconsciousness, "hurts. Tired…"

"Come on", the stranger told her in response, quite heartless, she thought, unable to pinpoint if the voice was actually male or female, "I didn't save you just so you can pass out now. Sit up."

To Neptune's credit, she did make an honest effort to do just that, even managing to get one arm beneath herself for support; this was as far as she got though, the pain slamming into her the second she tried to sit up, a strangled groan coming from her as finally, it all became too much to handle, her eyes rolling back into her head as she lost the fight and passed out, the alarmed cry of her unknown rescuer being the last thing she heard before darkness claimed her.

* * *

The first thing she realized upon waking was that she wasn't in her Senshi form anymore, but had returned to her civilian self some time during her unconsciousness; normally, this would have worried her, but the fact that she laid on something soft and could feel a tight bandage around her ribcage distracted her, causing her to wonder if someone had found her while she'd been out cold – or if her strange saviour had taken her along, and what this meant for her, if perhaps, she had leapt out of the frying pan and right into the fire.

"You're awake", the same low and husky voice she had heard before passing out reached her ears, tearing her out of her ponderings; it took her more strength than it should have to open her eyes, but when she finally had managed to and turned her head, her gaze met her saviour's, her breath getting caught in her throat as she momentarily felt like drowning in those teal eyes.

The moment Michiru's eyes met the stranger's, the feeling of _wrongness _simply vanished, only now making her realize that it had been there all the time, sometimes stronger, sometimes weaker, but permanently present; within the blink of an eye though, it now was gone, her heart suddenly hammering in her chest as she kept holding the other one's gaze.

If her eyes had a similar effect on her saviour, it was well-hidden, the aqua haired woman noticed; there was no emotion at all showing on the – rather handsome, she had to admit – stranger's face, the lack of reaction giving her the chance to take in as many details of their appearance as she could.

Anyone else, she realized, probably would have thought at first glance that they were looking at a man; somehow though, she just knew that this wasn't the case, that she found herself staring at a woman, a quite masculine looking one, but still a female. Apart from her masculine features, Michiru figured that her hairdo probably did its part when it came to people mistaking her gender; the blonde hair was cut short, in a rather manly style, and looked as if she didn't put too much work into it, strangely scruffy and as if she just had gotten out of bed and not even bothered to comb it.

"At least you seem to be awake", the woman now said, raising an eyebrow, "cat got your tongue?"

"N-no", Michiru gave back at once, momentarily startled by the little stutter she heard in her voice – after all, she was the always composed, always elegant and graceful Michiru Kaioh, and she didn't stutter. Ever.

"I'm just… surprised", she added after another second, to her relief having regained enough of her composure to keep the stutter away now, "I didn't expect to wake up… here. Wherever _here_ is."

"My place", the blonde gave back, not bothering to add any other information, where exactly her place was perhaps or why she had taken her there to bandage her up and not to the hospital; Michiru gave her another second to do so, but when nothing else came, she just felt awkward, something she hadn't felt in quite some time.

"Um, okay", she said after a few seconds had ticked by, just to break the silence, "well… Thanks. For not just leaving me there."

"Could hardly do that, could I", the other woman replied, a hint of amusement in her voice now, "pretty girl like you. Who knows who might have found you and what ideas they might have gotten."

She didn't even know her name yet, Michiru reflected, and she only had talked to her for a few minutes, but already during that short time span, she not only had made her stutter – but now, as she felt her cheeks heat up, also had made her blush, yet another thing she, the always so graceful and composed one, didn't do. Ever.

"You know", she said the first thing which came to her mind, just to distract herself from how much this offhandedly giving compliment had flustered her, "what you did back there was very brave. Attacking that creature like that, I mean. You could have gotten seriously hurt."

"You mean, like you did?" the blonde wanted to know in reply, this time making her scoff slightly; she had to admit though that the woman had a point, but that didn't keep her from giving her a hard look, a hint of steel in her voice as she answered her. "Perhaps, yes. But I've had worse."

Momentarily, she felt foolish for bragging like this, to someone who was a total stranger, no less; then, the other woman raised an eyebrow and smirked, the amusement back in her voice as she replied. "Did you. Interesting. Well, no worries, I'm no stranger to injury, myself."

"Interesting", Michiru mimicked her, "and while you might be no stranger to injury, you virtually are one to me. I don't even know your name yet." Momentarily, she felt quite witty for handling the name issue that way, without making it awkward again; and apparently, the other woman thought the same, since she let out a rumbling, low chuckle, the sound sending shivers up and down Michiru's spine, the third strange reaction in a row the blonde was causing for her.

"Haruka Tenoh", her saviour now told her, "but any pretty girl who ends up in my home after nearly being killed by some tire monster may simply call me Haruka. And you are?"

Only now, Michiru realized the dilemma she had put herself in – after all, the blonde had seen her as Sailor Neptune, and no one was supposed to know her civilian name if it could be avoided, her hesitation to answer prompting Haruka to raise an eyebrow, a hint of amusement in her voice again as she spoke up once more.

"If you worry about that thing you got going on there, the Senshi thing, no worries", she reassured her, briefly making her gawk as she so easily pinpointed her as a Sailor Senshi – before she realized that a group of them had been active in Tokyo for quite some time and probably was quite well known by now, considering how often attacks happened in crowded places, with more than enough witnesses around.

"I'm not going to tell anyone", Haruka added, "why would I? What you do is difficult enough, I'm not gonna make it harder for you by blabbing your identity to the world."

"…Michiru", Michiru told her after thinking about this for a second and deciding that she could trust her, even though she wasn't sure why, considering she didn't know her at all, "Michiru Kaioh."

The moment she said her surname, it felt as if some sort of connection had been made, something clicking in place which had wrongfully been kept apart before; and for some strange reason, she thought of how well their names went together, now nice it would sound to say "Haruka and Michiru" out loud, how strangely right and natural they sounded together.

If Haruka had similar thoughts, again they didn't show, even though she was smiling slightly now that Michiru had revealed her name; almost without noticing that she was doing it, Michiru smiled back at her, only to find herself forced to held back a groan moments later as the tiniest shift of her body on the bed caused a sharp stab of pain to run from her rib cage through the rest of her.

"If you're fine with being alone for a little bit, I can get you some painkillers", Haruka offered in response to her grit teeth, briefly making her wonder how anyone could not have painkillers of any kind at their home before she nodded, figuring that it didn't matter; she knew that she'd heal faster than a regular person, thanks to her Senshi powers, but depending on how badly she actually had been hurt, it would still take a while, and she wasn't all too keen on being in pain constantly until then.

"I'll be right back", the blonde told her in response to her nod, already rising from her seat; and now, as she wasn't just about to get killed by some creepy tire monster and had the chance to really look, Michiru fully noticed for the first time how much Haruka resembled the figure she always saw in her dreams, her tall and lean build exactly like the one of said woman, her breath catching in her throat as the remarkable similarity hit her.

Clearly, the blonde noticed nothing of her inner turmoil, just telling her to stay where she was and that she'd hurry; somehow, Michiru managed to nod, her eyes still glued to the taller woman as she turned and left the bedroom, the sound of a door opening and closing coming moments later, signalling that now, she was alone with her thoughts, her mind racing as she tried to figure out what all of this meant, why this woman of all the people in Tokyo had been the one to save her and if perhaps, there was more to her than she had thought at first.


	4. Chapter 4

After Haruka had returned with the painkillers, Michiru had gulped two of them down, then had drifted off into an uneasy doze, not fully sleeping, but not perfectly aware either; part of her noticed that her saviour was moving around in the apartment for a while, doing God knew what, then just sat somewhere, the rustling of paper telling her that she was reading something, briefly making her thankful for the fact that she hadn't decided to watch TV.

While she got her rest, her Senshi healing worked its magic on her body, in combination with the painkillers helping to reduce the pain until it was barely noticeable anymore; still she was aware enough to lie as still as she could, her thoughts drifting as she wasn't quite asleep, returning to the battle, how Haruka had thrown herself against the monster to stop it from bashing her head in with the wrench while the other one had roared behind—

"The monster!" she almost squeaked, sitting up so fast that it made her head dizzy, the painkillers nullified within the blink of an eye as sharp pain raced from her rib cage all over her nervous system, "it's still there!"

"What", Haruka gave back, from her seat not too far from the bed, briefly making Michiru wonder if she had kept watch over her – before the more pressing matters at hand returned to her mind, images of the race car monster thing terrorizing unsuspecting civilians running wild in her mind and sending shivers up and down her spine.

"The other monster", she elaborated, already moving to get out of bed, only to end up slumping back onto the mattress with a groan of pain, "it's still out there… the one in the crater…"

"It's gone", Haruka told her, having gotten up herself by now and moving over to her, "I took care of it. Don't try to get up!"

With the last words, she had reached the smaller woman, placing one hand on her shoulder to gently, but still firmly push her back down; and the second she touched her, the scent of roses was back, so strong and overwhelming that it nearly made Michiru's eyes water, her heart rate tripling while the blonde recoiled, clearly having experienced the same thing, her eyes widening almost comically – before she let out a massive sneeze, then rubbed at her nose, her eyes actually tearing up.

"What the", she then started, only to interrupt herself with yet another sneeze, prompting Michiru to wonder if her sense of smell was so much more sensitive than her own, "jeez, woman. What kind of perfume do you use?"

"Bless you, and I don't think that's my perfume", Michiru replied at once, the notion so ludicrous to her that she sounded much more indignant than intended, "this is… something else."

"Well, whatever it was, it's apparently gone again", Haruka grumbled, wiping at her nose one more time, "and, anyway, don't get up. As I said, I took care of that thing before I took you here. And the strange crystal thing, whatever that was, it just floated away."

"The pure heart crystal", Michiru replied without thinking about it, only to nearly bite her tongue seconds later, asking herself what was wrong with her – here she was, at first blabbing her civilian identity to someone who had seen her as Sailor Neptune, and now, to make it even worse, she had given this crucial detail away, to a woman she didn't know at all.

"Okay", Haruka gave back with a shrug, showing that she didn't care too much about what it was called, "either way, it's all taken care of. So just stay in bed and relax until you feel better."

"Thank you", Michiru sighed, relaxing again now that she knew everything had been taken care of, even though the soldier part of her felt bad about the fact that a mere civilian had done what had been her duty, "who knows what thing might have done if it'd been allowed to run free…"

"No need to worry about that now", the taller woman reassured her, making her smile slightly after a moment while she nodded; all tension left her body as she relaxed fully again, her eyes falling close once more a few minutes later, real sleep taking her this time as all worries were gone from her mind for now, allowing her to get the rest she needed for her healing powers to kick in fully and undo the damage the tire creature had inflicted on her.

* * *

When Michiru got torn out of her sleep rather roughly in the next morning, she at first had no idea what was going on and why she had woken up; then, the familiar call of the sea reached her, telling her that another attack was about to happen, and she groaned in dismay, asking herself why the monsters appeared so shortly after one another now – and if this was some sort of setup again, a try to take her out of the picture, like the last attack had been.

Knowing that there was only one way to find out, she got out of bed, relieved when the motion brought no immediate pain from her ribcage; the area still felt sore and tender, showing that not all of it had been healed over night, but enough damage had been repaired to let her fight again, and even though she much would have preferred some more peace between the attacks, she was grateful for the accelerated healing, not wanting to imagine how it might have been, had she been forced to go into another battle with her injury still as bad as it had been the day before.

Not sure if Haruka was asleep somewhere else or awake already, and not wanting to risk waking her up, she quietly made her way out of the bedroom, for the first time getting a proper look at the place she had been taken to; it was a rather big, but cosy apartment, feeling more like a home than her own place, the noises which were coming from where she suspected the kitchen was showing her that Haruka was up and about already, busy with preparing breakfast.

Now not bothering to be quiet anymore, Michiru moved to the room the noise was coming from, finding out that it indeed was the kitchen; the blonde raised an eyebrow at her as she entered, still polite enough to say "Good morning" before she asked her what she was doing out of bed.

"I'm fine", Michiru reassured her, "I heal fast. And I thank you again for doing all this for me, but I have to go."

"Go", Haruka echoed, her other eyebrow joining the first one in its high position, "go where? You're still hurt."

"I'm fine", Michiru patiently repeated in reply, "as I said, I heal fast. And it's nothing personal or anything, it's… my duty calling."

"Another monster", the blonde grumbled, now making it the smaller woman's turn to raise an eyebrow as she tried to figure out if she had really heard the brief, but distinctive growl in her voice or if it had been a trick her ears had played on her, caused by the other woman's hoarse voice and the hint of annoyance in it, "you don't get much peace, do you. Do you know where it is?"

"Not exactly, no", she had to admit in reply, wondering how she could explain how she would learn about the creature's position without sounding like a crazy person, "I… whenever one appears, I just… feel it. And that same feeling… it guides me to where the attack is happening."

"Can it guide you while you're getting a ride?" Haruka wanted to know, the ease with which she accepted this and didn't even raise an eyebrow this time surprising Michiru, and prompting her to once more wonder if there was more to the blonde than what met the eye; then, she realized that she should answer that question and nodded, even though she wasn't sure that this was the right answer, knowing where it would lead.

"Alright", the blonde smirked, abandoning her endeavour of making breakfast, "off we go then. I'll give you a ride."

"No", Michiru protested immediately, a protest Haruka easily ignored though as she merely moved past her and into the anteroom, removing a leather jacket from one of the hooks mounted to the wall there and pulling it on, "I can't drag you into this. This is not your fight."

Already before she said those words, she knew that they were wrong, even though she couldn't tell why; and once more, she remembered the feeling that she hadn't been supposed to do this alone, never had been, and that the way she had been doing it the last few months hadn't been the way it should have been.

_But she's not a Senshi, _she then thought to herself, watching how the blonde pulled on heavy biker boots, _she would have told me if she was, she knows I am one… And I can't drag her into this, if she gets hurt it'll be my fault…_

"I'm not letting you go there alone, you're still hurt", the taller woman now told her, dismissing her protest with ease, "and you're not dragging me into it if I offer my help. At least let me give you a ride there, you'll be quicker and it'll be less exhausting for you."

Even though she still didn't like the thought, Michiru nodded after another moment, figuring that Haruka had made a good point – it would save her precious energy if she got a ride and didn't need to run wherever the attack was happening, and she'd be there faster, too, perhaps get there before any innocents might end up getting hurt.

"Alright", she agreed verbally as well, "but don't try to get into the fight. I know you did well against these creatures yesterday, but they can be very dangerous and I don't want you to get hurt."

"Don't worry about me", Haruka shot back, already unlocking the door, then hurrying outside, Michiru right behind her now; a quick glance at the elevator made her notice the "Out of Order" sign, something the blonde obviously was aware of as well, since she headed for the stairs, the Senshi nearly stopping dead in her tracks for a moment as the discovery of the broken elevator lead her to ponder how strong exactly Haruka was – after all, they were in the third floor, and if the elevator hadn't gone out of order overnight, this meant that the taller woman carried her up three flights of stairs, while she had been unconscious and thus dead weight.

Then, she told herself that she could ponder this later, when the current danger had been taken care of; and just as she made this decision, they reached the ground floor, stepping outside of the building moments later, the smaller woman glancing around as she tried to figure out which of the many vehicles parked in front of it might be Haruka's.

"So", she then said, realizing there was no chance for her to guess, with the abundance of cars, "which car's yours?"

"Car?" Haruka gave back, sounding mildly amused, the smaller woman gulping audibly when the blonde moved to the only bike parked in front of the building, a heavy, black thing, "I never said anything about a car."


	5. Chapter 5

At least this time, Michiru reflected as she sat behind Haruka on the Machine from Hell, the not very affectionate nickname she had given the motorcycle the moment she had laid eyes on it, holding on to the blonde for dear life so she wouldn't fall off didn't bring up the scent of roses again; she wasn't sure if physical contact would always cause it, but what she did know was that she didn't want Haruka to let out an epic sneeze while driving the bike.

From what she could tell, considering how little experience she had with such things, the blonde was a good driver, sitting on the bike as if she had been born to do just that, and steering it through the busy Tokyo streets with ease; every now and then, she'd call out to her when the call of the sea changed direction, and somehow, Haruka always found the quickest and shortest route to the next turning point.

Thus, they arrived at the site of the attack much faster than she would have if she'd gone there on foot; still she was glad to get off the bike the second Haruka had brought it to a halt, at a safe distance to the monster, the blonde raising an eyebrow at the appearance of the thing – it seemed to have been a mere vacuum cleaner before it had been changed, and a rather tacky one at that, designed to look like an elephant, said design still prevalent in the creature it was now.

"This thing looks ridiculous", she said out loud, earning a vaguely agreeing noise from Michiru; despite the ludicrous appearance of the thing though, Michiru knew that it could be just as dangerous as the one which nearly had taken her out the day before, something she reminded Haruka off before she told her to stay where she was and hurried off, to the nearest quiet spot where she could transform without being seen.

The second the transformation was done, she hurried back to where the monster had been; the change hadn't taken long, but still the creature had managed to move away during it, down the street, eager to take the pure heart crystal back to whoever had created and sent it.

"Hop on", Haruka spoke up right next to her, making her flinch as she wondered how it could have happened that she hadn't noticed the bike pulling up to her, then blamed it on how focused she had been on the monster, "no need to chase it down afoot."

"No", Michiru declined yet again, the firmness in her voice showing that she wouldn't give in this time, "you can't get too close to this thing, we don't even know how it attacks yet. Stay here!"

And with those words, before Haruka had the chance to reply, she rushed off, chasing after the creature; she heard the blonde curse behind her, but at least, the engine of the bike didn't roar to life, something which she hoped meant that the other woman was taking her advice and staying where she was, not wanting to leave the monster out of her sight for even the second it would take to glance over her shoulder and look.

Focusing fully on the monster now, she sped up slightly, once more thankful for the enhanced strength and stamina being a Sailor Senshi granted her; bit by bit, she gained on the thing, and soon, she was close enough to attack, energy crackling around her hands as she called on her element, the creature, to her dismay, hearing her cry and coming to a screeching halt, turning to face her just in time as she unleashed her attack against it.

To her shock and slight annoyance, the monster reacted surprisingly quick, jumping out of the way with a daring leap; and then, it raised an arm which ended in a flat vacuum cleaner nozzle, laughing merrily as it sent a startlingly strong blast of wind against her from it, the attack hitting her hard enough to send her a few steps back.

"Dust!" the monster cried, reaching up with its other hand and tearing open the compartment which was part of its front; with another happy laugh, it reached inside, and before Neptune could try to stop it, it had thrown the bulging bag it had been carrying around there, an explosion of dust and dirt surrounding her moments later, making her cough and wheeze as the stuff got into her nose and eyes.

Rubbing furiously at her eyes to get rid of the blinding dust, she tensed helplessly as she heard how the monster approached her, obviously having decided that it had to take her out before it move on; before any attack might hit her though, a hand grabbed her arm and yanked her aside, the sound of something slamming into the ground where she had been standing seconds ago making her realize what a close call this had been yet again.

"Can't let you out of my sight, can I", she heard Haruka admonish, blinking furiously now in an attempt to regain her sight, "you okay?"

"I'm usually better at this, I swear", Neptune gave back, finally finding herself able to open her eyes at least a bit, "where did it go?"

"Don't know", the blonde replied, still holding on to her arm; if this contact had brought the scent of roses back again, Neptune couldn't tell, her nose still clogged from the dust, another cough coming from her as she tried to free her airways now in the most delicate way possible, not wanting to stand here snorting like a horse while Haruka was all smooth and rescuing her once again.

"Damned dust is messing up my sense of smell, I can't tell", the blonde now went on, momentarily making her raise an eyebrow as she wondered if the thing stank exceptionally bad and she just hadn't noticed yet, in the heat of battle, "but I'd be surprised if it'd be gone. It looked pretty adamant on taking you—"

She interrupted herself with a surprised yelp, and then she suddenly was gone from Neptune's side, the monster laughing somewhere in the dust cloud it had created and making the Senshi realize what had happened, her blood running cold as dreadful images of the creature doing all sorts of horrible things to Haruka flashed through her mind.

"Haruka!" she cried out, straining her ears as she tried to figure out where the monster was; then, she heard a low choking sound from somewhere to her left, briefly wishing for the power of wind as she turned into said direction and just blindly rushed off, squinting her eyes almost completely close against the dust, not wanting to end up fully blinded yet again.

Despite her limited vision, she spotted the silhouette of the creature before she ran right into it; it had pulled Haruka up against its front, one arm wrapped around the blonde's throat, choking the life out of her, easily ignoring the way she was struggling against the hold.

"Let go of her!" Neptune snapped as she shot forward, figuring that a physical attack was her only choice now – she couldn't risk unleashing her Deep Submerge as long as the creature and Haruka were so close together, not wanting to risk hurting the blonde, even though she for some strange reason knew that Haruka would have encouraged her to use her attack anyway.

Putting all her strength into it, she punched the creature right in the head, hard enough to make its face snap to the left; involuntarily, it let go of Haruka, the blonde stumbling a few steps away – before she turned around to face the thing again, and Neptune's breath got caught in her throat as all she could do was stare, her eyes wide now despite the dust, her mind reeling as she tried to figure out what she was seeing and what exactly it meant.

* * *

Obviously, Haruka noticed nothing of her shock as she stared at the creature, her fists tightly clenched; briefly, Neptune wondered if she even realized that she had changed, and if she had made a conscious effort until now to hide this from her, then realized that it didn't matter, that now, she only had to find out what these changes meant and what her newfound acquaintance really was.

The first thing Neptune had noticed had changed were her eyes, a bright yellow now instead of the fascinating teal she nearly had drowned in when she had looked at them for the first time; that alone would have been enough to give her pause, but this wasn't where the changes ended, her canines now looking much sharper and pointier than they had before, the smaller woman dimly noticing that they had grown slightly, as well, something which was easy to notice since the blonde's teeth were grit and exposed in an angry snarl.

Neptune almost felt like giggling hysterically as she took in the other changes, the monster thankfully apparently just as distracted by this as she was; Haruka's hair, unruly as it had been to begin with, now looked even shaggier and scruffier, and apparently had decided that just being on her head wasn't enough, coarse hair now covering her cheeks, jawline and part of her throat, as well as the back of her hands, something Neptune only noticed when the blonde took another step closer to the monster and swung a fist at it, giving the smaller woman the chance to see that her fingernails had changed, as well, now looking more like an animal's claws than the nails of a regular human.

And then, Haruka growled, _actually growled, _a noise Neptune never would have expected to emerge from a human throat; and yet there it was, a threatening rumble originating somewhere deep in her chest and breaking free through her grit teeth, the monster replying with a yelp of surprise when the blonde grabbed it with both hands – and, with a bulging of muscle beneath her jacket, hoisted it up and threw it, a low thud coming moments later as it hit the ground.

This finally tore Neptune out of the shock Haruka had given her, and she hurriedly called up her attack; the glowing ball of energy shot from her palm moment later, engulfing the creature, and it either had been weaker than the others or had been weakened significantly by Haruka's attacks, one hit of the Senshi attack being enough to dissolve it after it had screamed in pain and dismay.

Now that the monster was gone, the dust dissolved surprisingly quick, as well, exposing the vacuum cleaner the creature had been before the demon egg had taken hold of it and the pure heart crystal it had stolen; remembering her mission at last, Neptune hurried over to the latter object, her heart sinking when a quick look told her that it wasn't what she had been sent to find.

"Give that back!" a harsh voice called out to her before she could do anything more than realize the crystal wasn't what she was after; startled, she looked up, finding herself staring at four more Sailor Senshi, all of them looking as if they were ready to fight her, their wariness only increasing when Haruka moved to her side, another low growl coming from her as she studied the group.

"You can have it", Neptune quickly told them at hearing that growl again, the memory of what had happened when Haruka had let it out the first time, just minutes ago, still fresh in her mind, "it's not what I am looking for."

She gently nudged the crystal, sending it flying towards the group; one of them, the tallest of the four, caught it, and without another word, they bounded off, gone just a few moments later.

"No friends of yours, I take it", Haruka said next to her, still with that distinctive growl in her voice, even though Neptune noticed that the hair on her head had returned to normal when she glanced at her again and that the extra hair was gone from her face and hands; her teeth still looked sharper than they should, and her eyes still had a yellowish tint, but the most prominent changes had faded away again, perhaps along with her anger.

"No", she now confirmed, straightening up again, "first time I've seen them, actually. They weren't all too nice, huh?"

"You're not freaking out", Haruka replied, quite the non-sequitur answer, looking at her now, slight surprise in her voice and showing through her expression, "about… well, me. You saw, didn't you?"

"It was hard to miss", Neptune pointed out, watching with fascination how the last bits of yellow faded from the taller woman's eyes and how her teeth shrunk back to normal, prompting her to crazily wonder if this hurt, "but you _are _talking to a woman who uses a magical pen to change from her regular, day to day identity into a Sailor Senshi, complete with make-over and new outfit, and then tosses around balls of blue glowing energy. So you expect me to freak out over a bit of extra hair and some growling?"

"Well, if you put it that way, no", Haruka gave back, frowning, "but… still. You're remarkably calm. Not afraid I'm gonna wolf out fully and tear you apart?"

"No, should I be?" Neptune wanted to know, raising an eyebrow, only to smile when immediately, the taller woman shook her head, "and thank you for answering my question before I actually had to ask it. I wasn't fully sure what you are yet, but, well, now…"

"Now you know", the blonde shrugged, clearly not all too perturbed, "just like I know about you. I take you won't go around telling the world that I'm a werewolf, either."

"Of course not", Neptune reassured her, "no worries there. And, thanks for helping me, again… that thing didn't hurt you, did it?"

"No", the taller woman immediately gave back, to her evident relief, "just pissed me off. As you probably noticed."

Giggling, Neptune nodded, a hint of mischief in her eyes as she looked up at the other woman, the same emotion showing through her voice when she replied, her words making the blonde snort in reply. "I never would have guessed, what with the growling and tossing the thing around. I'm impressed, by the way, I never would have thought to hear such a sound from someone on two legs instead of four."

"Yeah, well", Haruka shrugged, moving right next to her as she started to walk, back to the bike, an unspoken agreement that they wouldn't part ways yet between them, "comes with the wolf. Can be quite handy in quite a few situations."

"So you can do that all the time, then?" Neptune wanted to know, glancing around to make sure no one else was there to see before she quickly changed back, only speaking on once she stood there as Michiru again, "not just when you're angry?"

In response, Haruka raised an eyebrow, then smirked – before she let out a rumbling, low growl, without any apparent effort, the smaller woman momentarily startled, then finding herself laughing, the blonde laughing with her moments later, both of them suddenly sure that this was just the start of something special, something which would bring them closer to each other and would make life much easier for both of them.


	6. Chapter 6

"I got called not even a year ago, but it seems much longer", Michiru told Haruka half an hour later, in the most discreet booth the café they had chosen to get a refreshing drink after all the excitement had had to offer, "and it's been quite hard at times. I never got as close to getting killed as yesterday though."

"Lucky for you I was around, then", Haruka gave back, taking a sip of her drink before she went on, "normally, I'm not hanging around much in this area."

"I'm not sure it was luck", Michiru told her, figuring that she might as well come clean about her thoughts and ponderings, "ever since this started, I had the feeling that what was happening was… wrong. That I had never been supposed to do this alone, that there should have been someone else to help me. And even though I don't want to drag you into this, no matter how capable you are, perhaps you are this second person who is supposed to help me… even though, to be honest, I expected another Senshi, not a werewolf."

"Sorry?" Haruka gave back, smirking slightly to show she hadn't taken offense from Michiru's words, "but maybe, I just didn't get the call yet. I only moved to Tokyo half a year ago, on behalf of the… of my family."

"I think we're supposed to work together", Michiru gently reminded her, the urge to touch her suddenly overwhelmingly strong, but she fought it down, telling herself that they didn't know each other well enough yet to permit any unnecessary physical contact, "so we shouldn't keep secrets from each other."

"…I'm here on behalf of my pack", Haruka admitted after thinking about this for a minute, thus agreeing with what Michiru just had said, "and yes, before you ask, we do take the whole wolf thing pretty seriously. It's a big part of life where I come from."

Nodding, happy about the fact that the blonde had told her the truth after all, Michiru gave her another smile, taking a sip of her drink before she spoke up again, deciding not to inquire what exactly Haruka was doing for the pack on Tokyo, figuring that the bit of trust the blonde had just shown her shouldn't be ruined by asking too many questions.

"So", she thus said instead, keeping her voice down so no around would hear her, "have you been a werewolf all your life?"

"Yes", the taller woman confirmed, "born to the pack. My parents are the Alphas of the pack, the leaders, sort of. That's one of the reasons why they sent me here, once one of us turns eighteen, they leave the pack for a while to live among… well, humans. Not really surprising to me though that the first person I really get to know better here is not fully human, herself."

She smirked while Michiru giggled, having to admit that this was kinda funny; and then, before the smaller woman could say anything else, Haruka suddenly let out a heavy sigh, then surprised the Senshi by reaching over the table and briefly touching her hand, the contact bringing a faint scent of roses up again, not strong enough this time though to make the blonde sneeze.

"It feels so good to finally talk to someone about this", Haruka told her sincerely, not mentioning it if she had smelled the scent, as well, even though Michiru was quite sure she had, considering that her nose was probably much more sensitive, "whenever I met someone new here, I always had to hide this part of myself, and it's no small one."

"I know how you feel", Michiru reassured her, "I've made a few acquaintances since I came here, but no real friends… the danger that I'm called to another attack is always there, and I'd have a hard time explaining why I have to run off at random intervals. Not to mention the fact that bruises take a mere day to heal."

"Yeah, that's kinda hard to explain", Haruka agreed, to the other woman's slight dismay not revealing if her werewolf side granted her a higher healing rate as well; she had been hoping to get some more information on this, but didn't want to just outright ask, not wanting to appear rude to this newfound acquaintance who might, in time, turn into a friend.

"So you think we're supposed to work together", the blonde now slightly changed the topic, making the smaller woman nod, "I have to admit, I'm not one to put too much faith into destiny and things like that, but I find it hard to believe that you might be wrong. Perhaps someone like me is just what you need, someone with raw strength, there's a bunch of Senshi running already, anyway."

"I'm not working with them", Michiru reminded her of the not so pleasant encounter they had had with the other soldiers, "I don't even know them. Well, I know their names, they are quite well known in Tokyo after all, but apart from that… Today was the first time I saw them in the flesh."

"Huh", Haruka let out in response, not really sure what else to say, "okay. You think they are after the same thing as you? And what are you after?"

"The talismans", Michiru let her know, prompting her to raise an eyebrow since this didn't tell her much, "they are… objects of power, I suppose, and our enemies are after them to bring the Silence over the world, causing the end of the world as we know it. There are three of them, hidden in pure hearts, the crystals the monsters are after."

"So what happens if someone loses the crystal thing because a talisman is inside it", Haruka wanted to know, frowning now, "do they die?"

"I don't know", the smaller woman had to admit, feeling slightly uneasy as Haruka's frown deepened in response, "they might. Or might cause great discomfort, but let them survive. No one has discovered a talisman yet, so we can't know."

Briefly, she feared that Haruka might tell her now that their cooperation was off, that she wasn't willing to get the blood of an innocent on her hands; then, the blonde just nodded, sounding remarkably calm and controlled as she replied. "Alright. So be it. I hope whoever carries these things doesn't end up dead, but if it's for the good of the whole world, it's a sacrifice we must be prepared to make."

Despite the fact the current topic of their conversation was so bleak and dark, Michiru found herself inwardly rejoicing at those words, at how Haruka had said that it was a sacrifice _they _had to made; as always when out in public, she kept her composure though, not letting her excitement show as she merely nodded, knowing for sure that from now on, she wouldn't have to do this alone anymore.

* * *

"So how are you gonna contact me in case another attack happens", Haruka wanted to know hours later, after she had given her a ride on the Machine from Hell again and had driven her to her apartment, "unfortunately, I don't have that Senshi sense you possess, so I won't know you'll need me."

"Good question", Michiru had to admit, this being something she hadn't thought of so far; since both Haruka and she had responsibilities apart from fighting monsters together, she knew that just hanging around together all day long until something might happen wasn't an option, even though she had to admit to herself that the thought of being around Haruka so much was quite appealing to her.

"I'll call you", she offered, rather lamely, but the only thing she could come up with, "and I'll try to give you a vague direction, if I don't know for sure yet where it is happening."

"Alright", Haruka agreed, figuring as well that this was the best solution they had, at least for now, "I'll just try to find you then, perhaps, this will work in our favour, if the monsters get surprised by a second player. Hold on a sec…"

And with the last few words, before Michiru had the chance to reply anything, Haruka leaned closer to her, so close that her face was almost nuzzled against the skin between her neck and shoulder; she nearly let out a surprised squawk, for a crazy second almost sure that the blonde would kiss the sensitive skin now – before she heard her take a deep breath and realized what she was doing, raising an eyebrow incredulously when the werewolf pulled back after yet another breath and looked at her again.

"You", she then said, her tone half-accusing, "just sniffed me."

"Yes", Haruka lightly gave back, as if this was no big deal – and to her, Michiru realized, it probably wasn't, her brain choosing this moment to bring up some of her knowledge of wolves, particular about how important scent was for them, something the blonde confirmed moments later as she went on, "now I know your scent. Will make it easier to find you after you gave me a call."

"Next time you plan to do something like that, warn me", the smaller woman gave back, shaking her head, "it's not polite to just sniff people."

"Sorry", Haruka now seemed to realize that what she had done had been a bit of a blunder, "I didn't… well, I didn't think of that, honestly. It's no big deal in the pack…"

"I figured", Michiru reassured her, amused when the taller woman actually blushed slightly now, "which is why I don't hold it against you. Just tell me the next time before you do it, alright?"

"Okay", the blonde gave back, evidently relieved that her little lapse into werewolf behaviour hadn't caused Michiru to freak out or get angry with her, "and, um, sorry again. I really didn't think there, that normally doesn't happen, I'm pretty good around humans usually, that's another reason why they sent me…"

She realized that she was rambling and forced herself to shut up; smiling slightly, Michiru reassured her that it was alright, forced to hold back a heavy sigh moments later as she realized that now, it was time to part ways and that she couldn't put goodbye off any longer.

"Let me save your cell phone number", she thus said, digging out her own phone; and once Haruka had given her number to her and she had made a quick call to both make sure she had saved it correctly and to give Haruka hers, she told the taller woman to take care until they'd meet again, making her nod, then tell her that the same applied to her.

"I'm pretty sure there'll be another attack soon", Michiru added after nodding her agreement to that, "so I guess I'll see you soon."

"Yeah", Haruka agreed, to the smaller woman's dismay not suggesting that they might meet up before the next attack, just to get to know each other better; Michiru couldn't quite tell why, but now that some bond, as fragile as it still might be, had been formed between the blonde and her, she was eager to spend time with her, and asked herself if Haruka felt the same and just was better at hiding her feelings about it.

For a few moments, silence hung in the air between them, now making Michiru feel slightly awkward; and thus, she just told Haruka to have a nice day, a phrase which sounded hollow and meaningless, then said her goodbye, her heart sinking as she entered the building and made her way up to the apartment she was supposed to call her home, feeling absurdly lonely now that Haruka and she had parted ways, asking herself why she reacted to strongly to the blonde and how much stronger this would get once they'd get to know each other better.


	7. Chapter 7

Only as she was in another fight two days later, days during which she had missed Haruka so much that it scared her, Neptune realized that she had no idea where exactly the blonde lived and thus couldn't figure out how long it might take her to get to the site of the current attack, one of the more luxurious shopping malls of Tokyo; the monster this time was made up of jewellery, sporting an unsettling number of sharp hooks and edges, hollering "Glitter, glitter!" at her as it threw diamonds the size of her head at her, forcing her to spend much of her time diving from cover to cover, thanks to how fast it shot one attack after the other against her.

_Should have paid more attention to that when she was giving you that ride, _Neptune admonished herself as she leapt behind yet another large planter, getting out of the way of another attack, _then you might know how long it'll take her to get here. Sloppy, Neptune, very sloppy._

At least, the monster was taking a break from constantly tossing sharp diamonds at her, a chance she immediately took to launch an attack of her own; and for a while, the battle just went on like that, with her moving from cover to cover and firing her Deep Submerge at the creature whenever she had the chance to, losing all sense of time as she battled.

Thus, she had no idea how long it had been when the scent of roses filled her nostrils, signalling Haruka's arrival; despite the scent though, she couldn't spot the taller woman anywhere, the blonde not doing her the favour of appearing right next to her. Still she just _knew_ that Haruka was somewhere nearby, the way she knew her own name; with the monster keeping her busy though, she didn't have a chance to look around, figuring that she'd just have to wait and let the blonde surprise her.

Clearly aware of how dangerous that monster was, Haruka didn't make her wait for too long; and even though she had been waiting for her to make her entrance, Neptune got startled when it happened not even a minute later, a loud growl preceding the attack seconds before it happened, in form of Haruka vaulting over the banister of the mall's first floor and landing right on the creature's back, causing it to let out a howl of both confusion and surprise, clearly not having expected another opponent to show up.

"Show-off", Neptune called out to her, the hint of amusement in her voice showing that she didn't mean it as offensive as it might have sounded; the only response she got was another low growl, followed by the sound of something shattering as Haruka landed the first hit, doing some serious damage to one of the bigger jewels on the creature's back.

Howling in pain now, the monster shook itself wildly in an attempt to get rid of her; if it had been made of flesh, she probably would have held on anyway, but the jewels which formed a sort of shell around the thing's body were perfectly smooth and slippery, and thus, it managed to fling Haruka off, Neptune forced to hold back a cry of shock as she saw her combat partner crash through the nearest glass storefront, a low thud following as she hit the ground inside the shop.

Even though all she wanted was to rush to Haruka's side and make sure she was okay, Neptune kept focusing on the monster, knowing she had to take it out first, then could worry about her companion; and thus, she used her shock and worry, turned it into rage and let that fuel her attack, her voice ringing through the entire mall as she called out _"Deep Submerge!", _the attack hitting the monster with such ferocity that it literally was blown off its feet, flying a short distance before its legs got tangled up with one of the benches put up for the shoppers to rest and it hit the floor, more jewels shattering upon the impact.

It cried out quite loudly in pain at that, but not loud enough to drown out the shockingly powerful growl which came from the store Haruka had ended up in; and right afterwards, Neptune for a dreadful second thought that another monster had made an appearance as a bulky, hairy creature bounded through the shattered window with a powerful leap, landing on all fours, sharp teeth bared as the bright yellow gaze briefly searched, then found the monster, Neptune only now realizing that this wasn't yet another monster, but Haruka, momentarily startled that her attractive companion could turn into something looking like this.

The transformation had bulked her up enough to rip her pants and her shirt, only her leather jacket surviving, causing Neptune to crazily ask herself if it had been tailor-made to guarantee just that; where Haruka had been lean and athletic before, muscles now were bulging, fur covering her from head to toe, the normally short hair on her head having grown to some sort of mane, halfway down her back, following the line of her spine.

As if all of that wasn't enough, her human looks were gone, as well, replaced by a much more wolfish form; her ears had shifted higher up her head, pointed and hairy now, her canines and their counterpart in her lower jaw having lengthened to the point now that they were jutting out far from the elongated snout her mouth and nose had combined into, the rest of her teeth having turned sharp and pointy as well, a sight which made Neptune glad that she wasn't the one who had to fight her when she was like this, and apparently could take this form on at will.

Clearly, the monster was just as impressed and surprised by this as Neptune had been, just standing there and staring, its mouth hanging comically open; growling again, Haruka shifted slightly on the floor, straightening up on two legs again, the claws her toenails had turned into digging deep furrows into the tiled ground, the monster actually having the sense to look slightly worried now, a large drop of sweat rolling down its cheek as it kept staring.

Finally realizing that she should use the creature's distraction to her advantage, Neptune hurriedly called up her attack again; the energy crackled audibly, the sound mixing with the growls Haruka still was letting out, despite her now quite animalistic appearance still having enough sense to get out of the way though as Neptune unleashed her attack, the monster crying out in pain once more when it hit home with deadly accuracy.

Taking the chance given by how the successful attack had thrown the monster off balance, Haruka shot forward, slamming into it moments later and tackling it to the ground; Neptune could hear more jewels shattering, the creature yelping in pain before it went as stiff as a statue, a strange, pulsating glow originating from somewhere deep within it.

Neptune just had a second to ask herself what was going on now, then Haruka had turned away from the creature and startled her by crossing the distance between them with one powerful leap; and before she had a chance to react, she found herself on the ground, flat on her back, the werewolf towering above her, her eyes going wide as she, for the first time, asked herself how much of Haruka was still there and how much had been replaced by a wild animal, willing to perhaps kill and devour any living thing she came across.

"Haruka…!" she started, not sure what to add though to snap the blonde out of it; and that was, when behind the blonde, the monster yelled "Glitter explosion!", the pulsating glow speeding up – until the outer shell of the thing exploded into a myriad of sharp splinters, Neptune only now realizing what Haruka had done, her heart clenching up when she heard the splinters find flesh and the wince the werewolf let out in reply.

Snarling, Haruka turned away from her again, towards the monster; clearly, the explosion thing had been supposed to be some kind of last resort, intended to take out whoever got hit by it, the creature's hard shell of jewels now gone, exposing the vulnerable body it had been protecting. Taking the chance given by this, Haruka leapt over to it, with one powerful push of her legs; she landed on the thing before it had the chance to try and get away, one swipe with her clawed hand now being enough to end it, the monster letting out a pitiful gurgle before it perished, vanishing into nothingness.

"Haruka", Neptune called out again, coming to her feet, now sure that the blonde wouldn't attack her; in response, Haruka glanced back at her, another low growl rumbling from her throat – before she, with terrible fleshy and snapping noises, returned to her human form, the sounds prompting Neptune to grimace as the transformation sounded quite painful.

At least, it didn't take too long, finished within mere moments; the second Haruka had finished changing back though, Neptune gasped in shock yet again, the noise this time caused by the injuries she only now could see, wounds the blonde's fur had hidden from her view just moments ago.

Despite how thick said fur obviously had been, it hadn't been enough to protect her from the shards when the creature's outer shell had shattered; a number of them were still protruding from her back, blood dripping from the wounds, but the injury which made Neptune's stomach turn was the deep gash one of the flying splinters or perhaps one of the monster's hooks had torn into the taller woman's face, slicing her cheek open deep enough to let her see a glint of white through the shredded flesh, the nausea only increasing when she realized that said glint was caused by Haruka's teeth.

"Oh God", Neptune brought out in a small voice, feeling as if all air had been sucked from her lungs, "that's… bad, we have to get you to the hospital, now, oh God…"

She had been planning to say more, to tell her perhaps that she shouldn't faint – even though Haruka didn't look as if she'd do so anytime soon – or that she'd be alright; before she could bring out any of those words though, the fleshy noises she had heard before, during the change back, came up again, softer this time, her eyes going wide and her breath catching in her throat when the gash in her companion's face started to knit back together, closing so fast that just seconds later, it was gone completely, not even leaving a scar, as if it never had been there at all.

Simultaneously, soft clinking sounds came up as the shards and splinters were forced out of her back and fell to the ground; stunned, all Neptune could do was watch, only regaining her ability to speak once the healing had finished and Haruka hurriedly zipped up her jacket, apparently only now realizing that her shirt had been shredded when she had changed.

"Wow", Neptune mumbled, prompting the blonde to look at her questioningly, with a hint of concern, worried that she might freak out now – compared to how she looked when just mildly pissed, with the sharper teeth and the hair, her beast form was much more terrifying, and too late, she realized that perhaps, she should have warned the Senshi about this side of her.

Then, Neptune continued, her words taking all of Haruka's concerns away and even making her smile a lopsided smirk, her relief about the nonchalance with which her companion handled the situation evident through her features and the way she relaxed.

"And I thought I heal fast", Neptune said, smiling as well now; not sure what to reply to this, Haruka just shrugged, then came to her feet, prompting the smaller woman to do the same, both of them turning to look at the sad remains of the monster without a word necessary.

Right above it, the pure heart crystal was hovering, Neptune feeling her heart speed up as she approached it; moments later though, disappointment took over as she once again had to realize that it wasn't what they were looking for, the tiniest shake of her head being enough to inform Haruka about this, as well, the blonde surprising her the blink of an eye later by placing a surprisingly tender hand on her shoulder.

"Doesn't matter", she told the smaller woman, the touch this time bringing the scent of roses up again, but at least not strong enough to make the blonde sneeze, "we'll find them sooner or later. The important thing is that we're both okay… and you're not alone in this anymore."

After a moment, Neptune nodded, managing a smile of her own; Haruka gave her shoulder a tender squeeze, then pulled back again, the scent of roses vanishing the second the physical contact had been broken, the Senshi now feeling much better about the situation though, telling herself that Haruka was right and that surely, things would be easier from now on, now that she knew for sure their rather simple system worked and she didn't need to do these things alone anymore.

Author's Note: For anyone who would like a pic of what Haruka in her rather furry form of appearance looks like, this is what I based the description on (remove spaces): www. pic- upload. de / view-24134609 / wolf. jpg. html


	8. Chapter 8

"Okay, I need food now", Haruka declared after Neptune had found a quiet area and had changed back to her civilian self, then had organized new pants and a shirt for her, "doing… what I did takes quite a bit of energy, and I'm _really _hungry now."

As if to underline her words, her stomach rumbled loudly, almost managing to sound more threating than her growls; Michiru shot her an amused look, letting out a small giggle when the blonde blushed, then cleared her throat, Michiru saving her from further embarrassment though by speaking up, before her cheeks could redden to an even darker shade of red.

"Food sounds like a lovely idea", the smaller woman let her companion know, "if you don't mind, I'd like to join you…?"

"I was kinda assuming you would come along", Haruka admitted in response, prompting Michiru to raise an eyebrow – after all, this was a bit presumptuous, but on the other hand, she figured that, with the secrets they knew of each other and the mission they now shared, the standard rules of etiquette didn't quite apply.

Thus, she just smiled, not pointing out that this hadn't exactly been proper behaviour, then nodded her agreement; Haruka smirked back at her, then glanced around, taking a few moments to orientate herself before she pointed out a ramen restaurant she knew nearby, Michiru nodding again when the taller woman asked her if she was fine with going there.

"It's not far", Haruka reassured her, then led the way; and to the smaller woman's relief, it indeed wasn't far, the two of them arriving at the restaurant ten minutes later, to their this time shared relief getting a table immediately.

"So", Michiru started once the waiter had taken their orders and had given them some privacy again, keeping her voice low so no one around would hear, "this wolf-human… mix, for lack of a better word, is this your werewolf form?"

"One of them", Haruka gave back, once more feeling absurdly giddy at the possibility to talk about this to someone, something she had missed dearly ever since she had left the grounds of the pack for her stay in Tokyo, "the logical conclusion of what you saw from it during the fight with the vacuum cleaner thing. There's a few… stages, I suppose, but the one I changed into earlier, well, that's what happens when we really lose control. Usually when we get badly hurt or really, really angry. A mix of both, this time."

"It's a good thing you have those healing powers", the smaller woman replied, momentarily feeling bad for having dragged her into this, and for the fact that she had gotten dreadfully hurt the first time they really had gone into this together, "as I said, I thought I heal fast, but watching this was quite remarkable. Are there any other forms?"

"One more", the blonde let her know, "the regular wolf. Well, maybe not quite regular, because we are much bigger than… normal wolves, for lack of a better word. We don't use that one often though, normally just during full moon, the change into it is easiest then, and takes a lot energy otherwise."

"But you can control it", Michiru inquired, finding herself quite fascinated by the topic, and thus dismayed when the waiter returned with their food moments later and forced her to fall silent until he was out of earshot again; waiting until the man had retreated, as well, Haruka just nodded, then smirked, only speaking up again when she could be sure no one was listening.

"Yes, we can control it", she confirmed, "it's not like in the movies, with changing against our will or anything. Even if we get really angry or badly hurt, we can still hold back the change, with some training in self-control, but I figured holding back wouldn't do back there."

"Good thinking", Michiru nodded, "even though I have to admit, now that the danger is over, that did give me quite the scare. For a moment I thought—"

"Ow oww owwww!" a shrill voice interrupted them from the table behind her, making both of them flinch, the blonde actually wincing, looking as if she wanted to cover her ears, "hot, hot, hooooot!"

"Usagi!" another voice cut in, sounding highly annoyed, "of course it's hot, it's freshly made ramen! This is what you get for being so greedy all the time!"

"You're always so mean to me, Rei!" the first girl wailed in reply, sounding as if she was close to tears now, "why do you always have to be so mean to me?"

"Oh stop it", the other one, Rei, shot back, "seriously, get a hold of yourself. People are already staring."

This, at least, prompted the other one to bite back the flow of tears which had threatened to spill down her cheeks; she glanced around to see who exactly was looking at her, and in doing so, her gaze met Haruka's, the blonde forced to hold a groan as the younger girl paused, her eyes briefly widening – before she could almost see the hearts filling them, forcing her to keep herself from rolling her own, Michiru clearly noticing that something was amiss since she raised an eyebrow questioningly.

"Look at this guy!" the younger girl tried to whisper, only to fail miserably, before Haruka could try to explain; holding back the urge to let her head drop down onto the table, the blonde bravely endured the way four of the five girls sitting at the table behind Michiru staring at her now, only one of them not joining in, but blushing instead, her red cheeks clashing quite badly with her blue hair.

"He's so handsome", the other blonde at the table gushed, her hair falling openly down her back, while the one sitting next to her, a brunette, found it necessary to state that she looked just like her ex-boyfriend, this declaration prompting Haruka to raise an eyebrow.

"What", Michiru brought out, sounding oddly strangled as she fought to hold back a giggle, keeping her voice low enough to make sure the girls wouldn't hear her, but only the woman sitting across of her, "these girls think you're a guy?"

"Most people do", Haruka told her, prompting her to let out a giggle now, "in fact, you're the first one in years to figure it out at once. Pack members not included, of course."

"Oh my", Michiru gave back with another small giggle, "I'm sorry, but… How many girls did you disappoint during the years?"

"…a few", Haruka let her know, pausing just long enough to let her notice; momentarily, she was curious, then decided that it'd be impolite to ask and thus just smiled, the blonde letting out a small sigh before she focused on her food again, giving her best to ignore the staring girls, even though her gaze was drawn to them again and again, the feeling that she was missing something heavy on her mind, with her having no idea what it could mean and where it suddenly was coming from.

* * *

During the next few days, no attacks happened, to Michiru's surprise and slight relief; said relief would have been bigger though if this sudden quiet time wouldn't have meant that she didn't get a chance to see Haruka, something which bothered her more than it should after only knowing the taller woman for such a short amount of time.

Unbeknownst to her, Haruka had similar feelings; she found herself checking her phone much more often than usual, always worried that she might have missed a call or text from her newfound companion, feeling oddly dejected whenever she glanced at the screen and saw that Michiru hadn't contacted her.

On the other hand, she reasoned, it was perfectly alright for the Senshi not to call or text her when no fight was coming up; after all, they just were meant to fight together, if what Michiru had said was true, and no one had ever said that they had to be friends as well to make that happen.

Still, she found herself thinking of Michiru more than she should, after just knowing her for a few days; every now and then, she'd stop whatever she was doing and think of the smaller woman's scent, how lovely it had been when she had sniffed her to memorize it, and of the strange odour of roses which seemed to come up more or less regularly whenever they touched each other.

During all her time, she never had experienced anything like this, never had been forced to deal with strange scents coming up out of nowhere; and from what she could tell, it only ever happened with Michiru, never when she touched anyone else.

_Not that there are so many people you touch apart from her, _she mused as she knelt next to her motorcycle, busying herself with checking the engine even though she knew it was perfectly fine, just needing something to do; even though she was good with regular humans, better than some others of the pack, a lot of people still seemed to realize on some instinctive level that something was just off about her and kept their distance, without ever figuring out the truth about her.

Momentarily, she asked herself if Michiru had the same problem, then realized that they had talked about this already and that Michiru had mentioned having trouble with finding friends, as well, something she had blamed on her duty though and the fact that she was called to fight at all possible times, and not on people instinctively noticing that something was different about her.

_Werewolf thing, then, _she decided, smirking to herself a moment later – being a werewolf might have a few drawbacks, but so far, the advantages definitely weighed much heavier, and she couldn't imagine being anything else, a person who did not have her strength and stamina and increased ability to heal.

_Not to mention the heightened senses, _Haruka mentally added to her pro-werewolf-list, finally stopping her useless work and coming to her feet again; along with her sense of smell, her hearing was better than a regular human's, and only increased whenever she changed to the wolf-human hybrid or full wolf.

Thinking of her full wolf form made her realize that a full moon was coming up, and she smiled to herself; changing into the wolf was easiest when the full moon was in the sky, and she already looked forward to doing so again, looked forward to running through the woods at the outskirts of Tokyo, perhaps chasing down a rabbit or two, simply letting her instincts take over.

Briefly, she found herself wondering what Michiru would think if she'd tell her about this, if she'd freak out or just take it in stride and accept it; so far, the smaller woman had been remarkably calm whenever she had been confronted with her true nature, not even reacting in shock when she had seen the final stage of what some in the pack called the beast form, a sight which would have made many others run screaming.

_What a woman, _the blonde thought to herself, allowing herself a small, dreamy sigh; part of her knew that it was risky to get too attached to Michiru so fast, but despite that knowledge, she couldn't help herself – she already had found the smaller woman insanely attractive when she had seen her for the first time, in both her Senshi form and her civilian one, and getting to know her a bit better only had increased those feelings, when she had realized how smart the Senshi was, how devoted to her cause, and how sweet she could be with someone she liked.

Her phone began to blare away in her pocket, startling her out of her thoughts; hurriedly, Haruka dug the small device out, suddenly sure that it was Michiru calling her to another fight, momentarily feeling disappointed when she saw that it wasn't her, but her father Tatsuo, the Alpha of the pack, calling.

Then, her happiness to hear from him pushed that feeling aside, and she hurriedly took the call, not bothering to hide that she was glad about the call as she greeted her father, the elder man sounding just as happy to hear her when he returned the greeting.

"How's it going in Tokyo", he then wanted to know, "everything alright?"

Momentarily, Haruka was tempted to tell him about everything which had happened since the last call, then decided against it – if Michiru was right and it was their destiny to fight together, it was something which was too big to be discussed over the phone.

"Yeah", she thus just said, "everything just fine. I think I finally met the one person in Tokyo who's not instinctively put off by the wolf, we might actually become friends."

"That's great", her father gave back, sounding so happy for her that it made her grin almost automatically, "tell me all about them. Boy or girl?"

"Girl", Haruka replied, "her name's Michiru. You'd like her, she's smart and kinda classy, but not stuck-up or anything."

"Oooh", the elder man let out in response, prompting her to roll her eyes as she knew that certain tone well, "sounds as if you really like her. _Like _her, I mean. Shall I cross my fingers for you?"

"Don't know", Haruka shrugged, even though he couldn't see the gesture, "honestly, I don't know her well enough now to think about that."

"You should take her to a nice place", Tatsuo advised in response, making her roll her eyes yet again – she knew that she could count herself lucky about her parents taking her preferences in stride like that, but still his meddling could get a bit tiresome every now and then.

"Trust me", he went on, unaware of her slight annoyance, "that will help you to get to know her better, and then you can figure out if you want me to cross my fingers for you or not! And you are really fortunate, because the reason why I'm calling is just the chance for you to take her to a nice place."

"Father", Haruka groaned out in reply, making him chuckle; he didn't let her dismay stop him though, but told her in great detail what he had in mind, and by the time he was done, she had to admit that it wasn't a bad idea, knowing that now, all she had to do was to work up the courage to ask Michiru, her father reassuring her that surely, her new friend would want to come along and that it'd all work out just fine, the blonde finding herself grinning like a fool after she had ended the call and dialled Michiru's number, telling herself that her father was right and that it all would be just fine.


	9. Chapter 9

"Honestly", Michiru stated after she had taken the call and Haruka had told her about her father calling and the reason for his call, "it's very kind of you to invite me to this, but I never would have expected it. Not to say that I think you have no taste or anything, but I find the mental image of a bunch of werewolves in a classical concert just kind of… strange."

"Well", Haruka gave back with a laugh, showing she hadn't taken offense, "we're not gonna be werewolves there, we'll be all dressed up, human and fancy. One of us can't make it though, and after I mentioned you to my father, he wanted to know if you want to come along."

"I actually wanted to go to this concert", Michiru admitted in response, making the blonde smile from ear to ear, "but I was too late about buying a ticket. I suppose that's because your pack got a whole bunch of them."

"So, it'd only be fair if you got one of them now", the blonde immediately reasoned, even though she somehow already knew Michiru would agree to come along, "and, hey, bonus, you won't even have to pay for it. Also, you'll get to see me in a fancy suit, that happens once a decade."

"How could I say no, then", the smaller woman replied, sounding slightly amused now, "can't let that chance pass now, can I? Thank you for the invitation, I'll gladly come to the concert with you. I'm curious about your pack friends, too, to be honest."

"Yeah, well, about that", Haruka cautioned, "technically, I'm not supposed to tell anyone about this, so I'd be much obliged if you could keep the fact that you know about them… and me… to yourself."

"Sure", Michiru agreed at once, to her relief not taking offense, "I'm not going to mention it."

"Thanks", the blonde said with a sigh of relief; she hadn't really been worried about Michiru talking about what she knew about the pack to the members she'd meet, but now that she had said it, she felt much better and secure about the whole situation.

"Oh, and I have to warn you", she added as an afterthought, "my father might make a few… ambiguous comments. Just don't take him too serious, okay?"

"Okay", Michiru agreed, even though she wasn't really sure which kind of ambiguity Haruka was talking about; figuring that she might find out sooner or later though, she didn't inquire further, but asked the taller woman instead if they'd meet at the concert hall or if she'd pick her up.

"I can pick you up, if you like", Haruka offered in response, "with a car this time, and not with the bike."

"Thank goodness", the Senshi replied, earning a throaty chuckle, "I will never understand why this monstrous thing has such an appeal to you."

"You just didn't ride it often enough yet", the blonde shot back without missing a beat, "you'll get to like it, I promise. I'll be at your place at seven?"

"I doubt I'll get to like it", Michiru let her know, "and seven is just fine. I'm looking forward to it."

"Me too", Haruka replied, smiling again now, a smile the smaller woman could hear through her voice; her own lips curled, as well, a happy sigh escaping her the moment they had ended the call after exchanging some more pleasantries, her heart skipping a beat as she thought of the coming event and of the fact that she'd go there with Haruka, the chance to spend some time with her during which they didn't have to fight for their lives more than welcome.

* * *

When Haruka came to pick her up in the next evening, Michiru's first thought was how glad she was that she had taken the chance to see the blonde wearing a formal suit; even though she had told herself that she shouldn't get too attached to the taller woman and that she didn't know her well enough yet to have any kind of feelings for her, she couldn't keep herself from staring as Haruka got out of the car and she got the first good look at her.

So far, she only had seen the blonde in her everyday attire, which usually consisted of her boots, jeans, a simple t-shirt and her leather jacket; now, she was wearing an obviously tailor made, black suit, with a white button-up shirt beneath and a matching tie, for once also not sporting her biker boots, but black loafers, the Senshi quite stunned by how much more attractive the blonde appeared to her in this new look.

_Not that she looked ugly before, _Michiru mentally added, giving her best to not appear as if she was staring, _but like this, wow._

"Hey", Haruka greeted her, the way she eyed her telling her that she had made the right choice about her evening attire; she always made sure to look elegant and classic, even in every day clothing, but for the special occasion, she had decided that her usual outfits weren't quite fitting and thus had chosen a dark blue evening gown, the colour bringing out her eyes and the fabric hugging her curves in a way that showed them off just enough to avoid making her look cheap.

"Hello", she now returned the greeting, smiling before she gave the car an appreciative glance; she didn't know much about vehicles, but could tell with one glance that the car Haruka had driven here, a sleek, black model, hadn't been cheap.

"Thank you again for taking me along to this", Michiru told her companion as the taller woman decided to show her gentlemanly side by opening the passenger side door for her, "the violinist we'll hear tonight is supposed to be excellent, one of the best."

"Let's hope he lives up to that expectation", Haruka gave back before she closed the door and moved around the car to the driver's side, only speaking on once she had gotten behind the steering wheel, "or my mother is going to be disappointed."

Smiling, Michiru nodded, leaning comfortably back in the seat as the blonde started the engine, then stepped down on the gas pedal; for once, she stuck to the speed limit, but still it didn't take them long to reach the concert hall, the Senshi spotting the group waiting for them already before Haruka did.

"That's them, right", the smaller woman still said, nodding into their direction while Haruka parked the car; smiling, the blonde nodded, then killed the engine, both of them getting out of the vehicle and approaching the group side by side moments later, with Michiru trying hard to hide how nervous she was all of a sudden.

Since, thanks to Haruka, she knew what to look for, she spotted the subtle hints for "werewolf" as she took in the group while they walked over to them; they all had the same wild, shaggy hair, except for one guy who had his shaved to a buzzcut, To her surprise, none of them was blonde like Haruka, all of them sporting either black or brown hair, every single male of the group also wearing a beard of some kind, ranging from three-day stubble to an impressive full beard one of them was showing off, his chin and even part of his throat hidden behind the mass of hair.

Apart from the way they looked, she could also tell from the way they held themselves, the peculiar body language she knew from Haruka by now; they all looked relaxed and comfortable, but still there was something predatory lurking right beneath that façade, a willingness to spring into action the second it would be demanded.

_No surprise people notice something is off about them, _Michiru pondered while one of the group finally spotted Haruka and waved happily at her, _even if someone doesn't know what to look for, or doesn't know what they are, it's present enough to let anyone notice on some instinctive level…_

"Haruka!" another male member of the group now called out, sounding so absurdly happy that Michiru immediately decided he had to be the blonde's father, further evidence for this theory being provided in form of the woman next to him beaming happily, as well, holding her arms open for an embrace the moment Haruka had gotten close enough.

Moving into the hug, Haruka briefly embraced the smaller woman, then did the same with the slightly taller man; and afterwards, she confirmed Michiru's suspicions by introducing them to her as her parents, Tatsuo and Ramika.

"Nice to meet you", Ramika smiled, shaking the other woman's hand first, Tatsuo following straight, "we are glad you could make it, it would have been a shame to let the ticket go to waste. These are our friends..."

And with those words, she introduced the rest of the group to her, four men and two women; she gave her best to remember all the names, but already knew that she hadn't succeeded, hoping there'd be another occasion to find out which wouldn't make her appear rude.

"Very nice to meet all of you", she said, smiling at the group, "and thank you for inviting me to this."

"Let us get inside", one of the males, Michiru having remembered this guy's name as Daigo, "now that our little group is complete."

The rest nodded at that, and they all moved into the concert hall together; once inside, some haggling was done about the tickets so Michiru could sit next to Haruka, an issue they resolved quickly, all taking their seats in the third row, the Senshi now finding it hard to contain her excitement.

"I hope he'll be as good as they say", she told Haruka, fighting the urge to shift on her seat in anticipation, "I play the violin, too, and it's such a joy to watch someone with a gift for it."

"You play, too", Haruka was momentarily surprised, "I didn't know that."

"Well, now you do", Michiru winked at her, making her smirk; before she could say anything though, some sort of commotion a few rows behind them got her attention, and she turned to look, raising an eyebrow before she focused on her companion again, sounding slightly amused when she spoke up. "It's the girls from the ramen restaurant. Never would have thought they're into this kind of music."

Curious now, Michiru turned as well, not having had a chance to look at them in the restaurant since they had been sitting behind her; they didn't notice her looking, too focused on their squabble, and that was quite fortunate, since her breath hitched in her throat as she recognized two of them, the two blondes she had seen in the arcade, just before she had met Haruka for the first time.

"I've seen those two before", she murmured to Haruka once she had gotten over the brief surprise, "at the arcade. The day we met, too. This is the third time in a row they just happen to be where I am."

"Second time for me", the blonde mumbled, "and this might sound paranoid, but it doesn't seem like a coincidence."

"No, it doesn't", Michiru agreed, kept from saying more by the lights going out, only the spotlights focused on the stage remaining; gradually, the people in the concert hall fell silent, all eyes on the stage now as the violinist made his way on it, giving a brief bow before he lifted his instrument to his shoulder and began to play.

Even though she knew that she should focus on the musician, Haruka's gaze wandered to the woman seated by her side again and again; Michiru was too focused on the violinist to notice, all her attention on the stage, watching each and every moment of the man's fingers.

Despite not really paying attention, Haruka heard enough to decide that he was good and that the music was quite beautiful; she found herself more fascinated by Michiru though, the smaller woman's eyes sparkling with happiness and a slight smile curling her lips, looking so content and at ease that it made the blonde smile as well, and made her glad that one of the pack hadn't been able to make it to the concert and thus, Michiru had gotten the chance.

Just as she made herself focus on the musician again, telling herself that Michiru would notice her staring if she didn't stop, the man hit not only one sour note, but a whole row of them; he grimaced and stopped playing, flushing visibly, her sensitive ears picking up the sound of him clearing his throat before he lowered the bow onto the strings again, recoiling visibly when what came out was terrible screeching and not the beautiful music he obviously had been expecting.

"Something's wrong", Michiru said out loud exactly what Haruka was thinking; before she could voice her agreement though, the violin suddenly began to shimmer in the man's hands, then to twist and turn, a startled noise coming from him as he involuntarily dropped it and took a step back from it.

Instead of simply falling to the ground though, the violin grew a pair of legs on the way down, arms and a head following suit; the people in the concert hall let out sounds of shock and surprise, the creature immediately focusing on them, crying out "Octavo!" as it started moving the bow over the strings running down its torso, creating terrible sounds with both the strings and its mouth, the noises of shock and surprise turning into groans as the audience fainted row by row.

"I have to get out of here", Michiru whispered to Haruka, unaffected by the monster's knock-out sounds; to her surprise, the werewolves didn't get taken out, either, all of them looking highly uncomfortable, with Ramika even covering her ears, but none of them fainting like the rest of the audience had, "and transform…"

On stage, the monster clearly didn't care that not all of the audience had been knocked out, now busy with taking the man's pure heart crystal; this at least, Michiru figured, would give her time to find a quiet spot where she could transform, but just as she began to rose from her seat, Tatsuo jumped up from his, his eyes flashing yellow as he looked at the other members of the pack, his words when he spoke up taking Michiru aback as he was giving an order she never had expected to hear from him, not with her around and officially not having an idea about the whole werewolf business.

"Everyone, beast form", he snapped, a distinctive growl in her voice she had heard from Haruka before, when she had been angry, "now!"

"Tatsuo!" his wife protested, throwing a meaningful glance at Michiru, "we can't do that here and now, Haruka's friend…"

"…knows", Haruka interrupted her, shrugging at the incredulous look her mother shot her in response for that.

"It just… kinda happened", she then added, "long story, which I gladly will tell you later. After we took care of this creature."

"Fine", Ramika agreed with a sigh, "but don't think we're not going to talk about this later, Haruka!"

"If it makes you feel any better, she knows my secret, too", Michiru chose that moment to jump in, not wanting to be the cause for a fight in the family, especially since Haruka seemed to get along great with her parents, "it's kinda how we met."

And with the last few words, she let the Henshin Stick slide into her hand, ignoring the fact that they all were staring at her now as she transformed; she never had done this in front of so many people, and to her amusement, half of them had their jaws dropped open by the time she was done, while the other half looked impressed and a bit awed, one of them murmuring "A Sailor Senshi!" to the man standing next to him.

"Alright", Tatsuo was the first one to snap out of it, "now that we know each other's secrets, change, people, we can't let this thing get away!"

A chorus of agreeing sounds was the response he got to that, and then, they all started to change, to the wolf-human-hybrid form Neptune had seen Haruka use before; to her amazement, their clothing didn't get shredded like the blonde's had, but stretched and accommodated, leaving her surrounded by a bunch of finely dressed werewolves once they all had finished, Haruka still right next to her, easiest to recognize thanks to the fact that her fur was still a sandy blonde while the rest were black and brown.

"We go in first", Tatsuo decided, making her wonder if this was actually the first time they were doing this or if they had faced such creatures before, "Senshi, you stay at the back, let us wear it down first and then you can finish it off."

It amazed Neptune how capable of human speech he still was, despite this feral form; all she could do was nod, the werewolf smiling toothily at her – before he bounded off towards the stage, easily jumping over the rows of seats, the rest following suit, leaving Neptune standing there on her own, a bemused look on her face as she asked herself if transforming even had been necessary or if it had been a waste of energy, the way the monster was retreating in fear at the sight of a whole group of werewolves rushing towards it making it more than obvious that they would be able to handle the situation.


	10. Chapter 10

Just as Neptune had predicted, the monster was taken care of quickly; faced with nine werewolves, there wasn't much it could do, and not even two minutes after Tatsuo had gotten moving towards the stage, the creature was gone, the pure heart crystal hovering where its body had disintegrated, the werewolves keeping a respectful distance to it now that the threat had been taken care of.

"Well, if I had known you guys are so capable at this, I wouldn't even have bothered to transform", Neptune commented as she leapt on stage, two of them making room for her so she could move to the pure heart crystal, "that was impressive."

"Thank you", Tatsuo replied, his body beginning to shrink moments later as he returned to his fully human form; to Neptune's amazement, his clothes shrunk with him, clearly having been made to stretch without actually losing shape, something which was true for the rest of the group, as well, all of them returning to their human forms and looking just as well-dressed afterwards as they had before the change.

"You again!" another female voice called out before anyone could say anything about what just had happened, making them all turn; to their surprise, they found themselves looking at a tall, redheaded woman, wearing an equally red dress and standing in the last row, glaring down at them angrily, slender, pale arms crossed over her chest.

"Neptune", she added, her eyes blazing with anger, "and you found some friends, too. Hairy ones, at that."

"Who are you", Neptune demanded to know in reply, "the source for all of this? Are you sending these creatures?"

"They're called daimons", the redhead corrected her, "and yes, I am. I thought someone as smart as you would have figured that out by now, but perhaps I overestimated you."

Behind her, Neptune heard Haruka growl lowly, probably in reaction to the way this woman was talking to her; she didn't dare to look away from the eerily pale redhead though, keeping her gaze firmly fixed on her instead, energy gathering around her as she called on her power, the other woman either not noticing what she was doing or not caring much about it.

"I am Kaorinite", the redhead now told her haughtily, as if this name should mean anything to her, "and I advise you to enjoy what little time you have left as much as you can. Because next time you disturb my work, I will be prepared and I will take you out."

"We will see about that", Neptune coldly replied, while Haruka let out another growl, louder this time, clearly not liking that woman threatening her companion; in response to the noise coming from her, Kaorinite's eyes, as red as her hair, Neptune only noted now, moved to the werewolf, a slight smirk tugging at the corners of her mouth, amusement in her voice when she spoke up again. "That werewolf you hang out with so much, Neptune? She really needs to learn how to control her temper. After all, dogs which aren't capable of that are usually put down."

At hearing this, Haruka's eyes flashed yellow, and she got moving; she only made two steps though, then Neptune had flung her arm out and stopped her in her tracks, keeping her gaze fixed on Kaorinite, but addressing her, keeping her voice low so the redhead wouldn't hear what she was saying.

"Don't", she told the blonde, glad that Haruka had stopped and wasn't trying to move past her, "she's trying to provoke you into mindlessly attacking her. I don't want you to get hurt."

In response, the taller woman growled again, but remained where she was; Kaorinite let out peals of laughter at both of them, her eyes glittering merrily as she focused on Neptune again, her voice cold as she addressed her once more.

"Well met, Neptune", she told her, blatantly lying without even blushing, "and remember what I said. You get into my way again, you die."

And with the final word, she leapt high up into the air, onto one of the balconies reserved for those who could afford the more expensive tickets; now that she was out of sight, Neptune dared to lower her arm, then turned to look at Haruka, grimacing as she thought of the clear threats Kaorinite had made, the two of them exchanging a worried look as they asked themselves how seriously they had to take her and how they could learn more about her and the abilities she might possess.

* * *

"So", Tatuso started an hour later, back in Haruka's apartment; the blonde, her parents and Michiru had split up from the rest of the group to go there after the musician had been taken care of, now sitting in the living room, drinking tea and water, having the conversation Haruka had been slightly dreading ever since she had let it slip that Michiru knew about the pack and her, "this is how the two of you met, right? Fighting one of these… daimons?"

"More or less", Michiru confirmed, glancing towards the kitchen where Ramika was moving around, having explained that they all needed food badly after changing into the beast form before she had vanished to prepare something for them, "I was fighting two of them, they'd set me up and one of them surprised me. It injured me, but before it could kill me, Haruka intervened. I passed out and she took me here."

"Michiru thinks we are supposed to work together", Haruka added, making her father glance at her, an unreadable look on his face, but at least, the blonde reflected, he didn't look angry, "and, believe me, I tried to keep the wolf from her at first, but then we fought another one, and I kinda got angry. And hairy."

"You need to get better control, dear", Ramika's voice drifted in from the kitchen, the way Haruka rolled her eyes and Tatsuo just chuckled showing Michiru that this wasn't the first time she had said this to her daughter, "what if you had frightened poor Michiru?"

"Well, as I told your daughter", Michiru replied, raising her voice slightly so the elder woman would hear her, "I'm a woman who uses a magical pen to turn into Sailor Neptune and then throws glowing ball of energy around. A bit of hair and a bit of growling doesn't frighten me."

"Anyway", Haruka said, perhaps a bit too loud, clearly eager to get the talk away from her self-control and the possibility of her frightening Michiru, "we work well together, Michiru and I. I never believed much in destiny, but it does seem as if we are meant to work together, we make a good team."

"Our gifts are surely suitable for this kind of thing", Tatsuo nodded, the strange expression now gone from his face, "but it does seem strange that you, as a wolf, are… well, chosen, for lack of a better word, to fight these things, and not another Senshi."

"We talked about this, as well", Michiru nodded, "and Haruka had the rather sound theory that perhaps, there are enough Senshi around already, there are five more, and that this is why she was chosen. She has the physical strength and the healing abilities to face these things head-on, which does make combating them quite a bit easier."

"That makes sense", Tatsuo agreed, accepting all of this surprisingly quickly, even though Michiru figured she probably shouldn't be surprised about this – after all, he was a werewolf, just like Haruka, and thus, all things supernatural surely were easier for him to handle than for the average, regular human.

"Just be careful", the elder man now went on, his gaze focusing on Haruka, "we are good with healing, but you know it has its limits. And this Kaorinite woman knows what we are, so she might use that against you."

"Silver", Haruka explained at Michiru's curious look, "the one thing which really can do some lasting harm. And probably the only thing about werewolves all those horror movies are getting right."

Horrid thoughts of silver bullets and the damage they could do danced through Michiru's mind at hearing that, and she grimaced; before she could voice any concerns though, Ramika returned from the kitchen, the fact that she carried a tray which held several empty plates and a big one heaped with steaks not really surprising the Senshi – with the whole family being werewolves, it only made sense that they would want some meat after going through the change into beast form.

"You have nothing to go with this", Ramika scolded her daughter as she put the tray down, "you know your father and I don't mind, but you should get some side dishes, for your friend Michiru."

"Oh, that's alright", Michiru reassured her at once, smiling, "my transformation doesn't take up much energy, I don't need to eat after going through it."

"More for us", Tatsuo smirked, only to cower at the look his wife shot him in reply; he cleared his throat, then silently helped himself to one of the plates and moved two of the steaks onto it, Haruka smirking to herself as she did the same, Ramika being the last one who took some of the food, asking Michiru once more if she was sure she didn't want anything.

"I'm fine, thank you", Michiru reassured her, smiling; Ramika gave her a smile as well in return, then for a while no one spoke as the three werewolves were busy eating and Michiru watched them with fascination, never having seen someone eat with such devotion.

_Wolfing it down, I suppose, _the Senshi thought to herself, forced to hold back a giggle; Haruka gave her a brief look, making her wonder if she had noticed something, but if she had, she didn't comment on it, focusing on her food again moments later.

It didn't take long until the impressive heap of steaks had been polished off, all three of them leaning back into their seats with small, content sighs; amused by this behaviour, Michiru did let out the giggle now, shrugging when Haruka raised an eyebrow at her, her amusement showing through her voice as well when she explained the reason for her mirth.

"I've never seen anyone so happy after a meal", she told the blonde, giggling again when Haruka blushed slightly, "not to mention seeing people eat with such enthusiasm."

"Well, what can we say", Ramika smiled, while Haruka cleared her throat rather noisily, "after that change… we're hungry like the wolf!"

At this, Michiru lost all self-control and burst out laughing; Ramika laughed along with her, and after a few moments, Tatsuo and Haruka joined in, as well, the four of them laughing off the excitement of the evening, a relaxed and happy atmosphere surrounding them.


	11. Chapter 11

"Your parents are nice", Michiru told Haruka quite some time later, after the werewolf couple had taken off to head back to their home, "and I'm glad they didn't freak out about me knowing the family secret."

"Well, we know yours, too", Haruka shrugged in response, getting more comfortable by opening the two top buttons of her shirt and rolling up the sleeves to her elbows, "so it's kind of like a trade. I was worried for a moment though that my mother would blow up at me when I told her that you know."

"Yes, she looked quite angry", Michiru agreed with a small giggle, making the taller woman smile as well, "but I'm really glad it all worked out in the end. I wouldn't want to be the cause of friction in your family."

"No worries there", the blonde reassured her, "it's all fine now…" Michiru yawning quite heartily caused her to trail off, and she glanced at her watch, surprised at how late it had gotten; clearly, the smaller woman hadn't been paying much attention to time passing either, looking equally surprised when Haruka told her what time it was.

"I should get going", she then declared, even though she didn't really feel like making the journey back to her apartment with public transport, "I really didn't pay attention to the time…"

"I can give you a ride", Haruka offered, "then you won't have to take the bus, or a taxi maybe."

For a moment, she almost added an offer for her to spend the night at her home, then bit down on her tongue and remained quiet; after all, they barely knew each other yet, and even if they were supposed to fight together, it still was a bit too early for such offers.

"That's nice of you", Michiru replied, distracting her from thoughts of having her stay over, "but I'd feel bad if I made you drive all this way now, at this time…"

"It's not that far", the blonde shrugged in response, not really surprised about Michiru declining her offer, but figuring she didn't have to accept this right away, "and, honestly, I'd sleep better if I know you got home safely. I mean, this woman is still out there and threatened to kill you, not to mention the other, regular creeps prowling Tokyo at night."

"I can handle those", Michiru reminded her of the fact that she wasn't just a regular human, either, "but you are right about this Kaorinite person still being out there… I'm not sure if she'd try anything, so shortly after her last attempt, but if she does…"

"…in case she does, you better have the big bad wolf by your side", Haruka finished for her, coming to her feet, "so no more discussion. Let me give you a ride."

"But then you'd have to drive back home alone", Michiru pointed out the fatal flaw in her little plan, "which might put you in danger. She _did _threaten you, too, remember?"

"So what do you suggest", Haruka wanted to know, raising an eyebrow and smirking, "unless you stay here overnight, which I wouldn't mind to be honest, one of us will have to be alone at least for a while out there."

Inwardly, the blonde congratulated herself on how cleverly she had worked an offer for Michiru to spend the night at her home into the discussion; with the way she had said it, she could claim that she hadn't been fully serious, in case Michiru would freak out at this lack of etiquette, and if the smaller woman didn't, but took her up on her offer, it wouldn't have been presumptuous, either, making it a win-win situation for her.

"Perhaps this would be the smartest course of action", Michiru now nodded, to Haruka's amusement blushing slightly as she said those words, "not that bright daylight has kept this woman and her… daimons from attacking before, but there's no need to take any extra risk by running around in the middle of the night. So if it's not too much of an inconvenience…"

"Course not", Haruka reassured her, "you can have the guestroom again, it's not like you'd sleep there for the first time. Only this time, you're thankfully not injured."

"Alright then", Michiru decided, smiling again now while her blush was slowly fading, "if you really don't mind… thank you. I would offer to return the favour and let you stay over at my place some time soon, but unlike you, I don't have a guestroom. Not even a couch big enough for you to sleep on."

"My parents insisted on the guestroom", Haruka shrugged, "in case someone of the pack has to stay in Tokyo on short notice. Bothered me back then, but it's quite lucky now, huh?"

"Indeed", Michiru replied with a small giggle, making the blonde smile back at her; for a few seconds, they just kept smiling at each other, neither of them feeling awkward or uncomfortable, then the blonde made a vague gesture towards the TV, her next words causing Michiru's smile to widen slightly.

"Well, now that's decided you'll stay", she said, hiding well how absurdly gleeful this was making her feel, "why don't we watch a movie or something? Unless you're really tired and want to go to sleep."

"No, a movie's fine", Michiru reassured her, "just nothing all too dramatic, please. Or terrifying, I'm really not big on horror movies."

"I'm sure we'll find something", Haruka smirked, sitting back down now that it had been made sure that she didn't need to drive Michiru anywhere after all; she snatched up the remote and switched the TV on, then spent some time zapping through the channels until they had found a movie they both were willing to watch, sitting in comfortable silence for most of it and enjoying each other's company, both of them glad that Michiru would spend the night at the blonde's home after all.

* * *

When Michiru's screams woke Haruka in the middle of the night, her first thought was _attack, _and without even realizing it, the change started as she hurried from her bedroom to the guestroom; the few steps this took her were enough to let her shift into the form Michiru had seen first from her, her night vision increasing drastically as her eyes changed colour, the familiar twinge of pain from her jaw telling her that her canines had lengthened as well while she pushed the door open and almost stormed into the room.

Thanks to her enhanced vision, she immediately could tell that the room was, apart from Michiru, empty; this took some of her fervour away, and she slowed down, her eyes meeting Michiru's in the dark, the smaller woman letting out a high-pitched squeal at the sudden appearance of two glowing yellow eyes in the darkness, only to remember that it was Haruka a second later, a slight sigh of relief escaping her as she finally realized what had happened and relaxed again.

"I'm sorry", she then mumbled, now feeling awkward and uncomfortable, "I didn't mean to wake you…"

"Never mind", Haruka gave back at once, the yellow fading from her eyes and the "extra hair", as Michiru had called it, retreating, along with her teeth shrinking back to normal, "are you okay? Jeez, you scared me."

"Sorry", Michiru apologized again, "and I'm fine, I just… a nightmare, I've been getting them more and more since I got called… about the end of the world…"

She made herself shut up, not wanting to start rambling about the horrid images which tore her out of her slumber every other night, filled with death and blood and terror, with people being torn apart by monsters and the Silence she was fighting so hard to avoid ending it all; and suddenly, she felt endlessly tired and exhausted, asking herself how much longer she could do this, could fight the daimons Kaorinite sent out in search for the talismans while her bad dreams cost her more and more of her sleep, making it impossible for her to get the rest she needed to be at her best in combat.

"Hey", Haruka said, sounding slightly alarmed now, causing her to numbly wonder if her sudden onrush of extreme tiredness and being more or less fed up with it all perhaps had caused her smell to change and the blonde had picked up on that; before she could ponder this further though, Haruka had moved to the side of the bed and placed a tender hand on her shoulder, neither of them surprised anymore when this brought the faint scent of roses to the room yet again, "you sure you're okay? You can tell me more about that nightmare if you want to, it might help, I don't mind…"

"It's always the same", Michiru sighed after a moment, giving her an unhappy look, her eyes by now having adjusted enough to the dark to let her make out Haruka's face, "I… we fail, and the darkness takes over… people die…"

"This is not going to happen", Haruka reassured her, now giving her shoulder a reassuring squeeze, "we haven't found any of the talismans yet, but neither has this woman, so there's not much she can do… and together, we'll find them before her."

"It is easier now", the smaller woman replied, a small smile now curling her lips, to the blonde's relief, "now that I don't have to do it alone anymore. I'm really glad you accepted this and joined me in this…"

"Well, I have to make use of these werewolf bonuses somehow, right", Haruka smirked, feeling even better when Michiru let out a small giggle in response, "would be a shame to let them go to waste."

"Indeed", the smaller woman agreed, feeling much better despite how short this talk had been; merely having Haruka next to her had helped her to calm down, the werewolf's touch only making this happen faster, and having finally spoken to someone about the images plaguing her night after night had helped tremendously, as well.

"Thank you", she thus said, "that really did help… But I don't want to keep you out of your bed any longer. We should both get some sleep, it's been an exciting day…"

Nodding her agreement, Haruka finally pulled her hand back, even though it made her feel strangely forlorn to end the physical contact; from the way Michiru's eyes briefly darkened, the smaller woman had similar feelings, neither of them saying anything about them out loud though.

"You're right", the blonde now agreed verbally as well, more to distract herself from the sudden urge to touch Michiru again than for the need of it, "sleep well, then… I'll see you in the morning."

She felt rather stupid for saying this, but at least, the smaller woman didn't laugh at her if she found it funny as well; she just nodded in response, this acknowledgement prompting Haruka to get up from her seat on the edge of the bed, the taller woman still taking the time to give her another smile before she moved back to her own bedroom, quickly falling asleep again once she had laid back down, both Michiru and she slumbering through the rest of the night undisturbed.


	12. Chapter 12

In the next morning, the smell of freshly brewed coffee was the first thing Haruka registered as she woke up; she sniffed audibly, briefly frowning to herself, then remembered that Michiru had spent the night in the guestroom, figuring that she had woken up first and had started to make breakfast.

Letting out a hearty yawn, she got out of bed, taking the time to stretch extensively before she made her way into the kitchen; there, she found Michiru at the oven, the smaller woman busy making ham and eggs, smiling at her as she entered.

"Good morning", she then said, "you woke up just in time, coffee's almost done and so is the food. I thought of making pancakes at first, but then I figured you might prefer something with a bit of meat in it."

"That's very thoughtful of you", Haruka smirked, "but you really didn't have to do that…"

"I like doing that", Michiru shrugged, "and I figured it'd be only fair, after you offered your guestroom for the night and I additionally woke you up in the middle of it because of my stupid nightmares."

"Never mind that", the blonde gave back with a little wave of her hand, moving over to her side to peer into the pan, "that's one of the perks of being a werewolf, we can get by with less sleep than regular people."

"That's good to know", Michiru replied with a slight smile, "cause I would feel terrible if another attack happened today and you'd end up getting hurt because of sleepiness caused by me."

"Not gonna happen", Haruka reassured her, then got distracted from their talk by the gurgling sounds the coffee machine let out as the coffee finished running through; quickly, she found two clean cups in one of the cupboards, asking Michiru how she wanted hers while she moved over to the machine, the smaller woman letting her know that she just wanted a splash of milk.

"No sugar", the blonde gave back, sounding so shocked that it made Michiru giggle, "really? How can you drink coffee without sugar?"

"I just prefer it that way", Michiru replied with another giggle, amused at how much this seemed to shock her companion; and moments later she knew why, as Haruka spooned a shocking amount of sugar into her coffee, the smaller woman raising an eyebrow at the sight.

"Alright", she then stated while deciding that the ham and eggs were done as well and moving the pan off the stove, "I hope for you that a fast metabolism is another werewolf perk, or you'll gain two pounds just from drinking that."

"It is", Haruka told her with a smirk, chuckling when she rolled her eyes in reply; after a moment, Michiru smiled as well, then carefully divided the food she had prepared into two equally big portions on the plates Haruka had handed to her, both of them sitting down at the kitchen table for breakfast afterwards, a surprisingly comfortable silence forming between them as they both were focused on eating and drinking.

It was strange, Michiru reflected, how oddly _right _this felt; when she had met Haruka and had realized that the blonde was the one who had been chosen to fight with her, she had been quite sure that this would be all they would do together, fight side by side until their mission had been completed, perhaps becoming friends over time, but in this moment, it felt as if they already were, despite the fact that normally, friendships took longer to develop than the short time they had known each other.

Still, it felt as if this was where she was supposed to be on such a lovely morning, with her fight partner and not sitting alone in her apartment; even though this was only the second time she was at Haruka's place, it already felt more like a home to her than her own, and she found herself wondering what this might mean, and if Haruka had similar feelings.

If she did, the blonde was hiding them remarkably well, appearing to be fully focused on her food; and thus, she didn't seem to notice Michiru glancing at her every now and then, either, the smaller woman deciding to keep those peculiar thoughts to herself, not wanting to freak the blonde out by appearing like some crazy clingy person who spoke of deep friendships after just meeting for a few times.

"So", Haruka finally broke the silence, after having washed down the last few bites of food with her coffee, stunning Michiru by how fast she had munched the breakfast down, "you think this woman's gonna make another try soon? She might want to set you up, like she tried when we met."

"Perhaps", Michiru had to admit, "so there might be another attack soon, maybe even today. She did seem pretty determined to get me out of the picture, and you, as well."

"As long as she doesn't shoot me with silver bullets, there is not much she can do", Haruka shrugged in reply, clearly taking the threat Kaorinite had made against her not as serious as the one which had been made against Michiru, "we can heal a lot, and I mean a lot. Apart from silver, perhaps cutting my head off might work, but other than that…"

"She might not know that", Michiru pointed out, "even if she does know that you're a werewolf. And I don't want you to get hurt, no matter if you can heal it quickly or not…"

"I'll be fine", Haruka shrugged off her concerns, "we have to make sure that you're not getting injured, your healing might be good, as well, but it's not as good as mine. So in case she does try anything, let me handle the rough stuff and stay at the back as far as possible, alright?"

"…fine", Michiru agreed after a moment, not all too happy about this arrangement, but figuring that Haruka was making a good point, "for now, all we can do is wait anyway. Which is quite annoying, but unfortunately, it can't be changed."

"Yeah, too bad we have no idea how they choose their victims", Haruka sighed, making the smaller woman nod in dismay; then, she changed the topic by asking what her plans for the day were, and even though Michiru knew that she had paintings to finish and should practice her violin, she found herself telling the blonde that she didn't have any yet, feeling oddly jubilant when Haruka asked her if they should do something together, then, the thought of spending more time with the blonde making the feeling of how right this was only increase and once more prompting her to wonder why she felt so attached to her already and where these feelings might lead.

* * *

Since they had no real plan for what to do during the day, and neither wanted to suggest something the other might not like, they started their time together by going for a simple walk, with Michiru claiming that she'd hear the call from the sea the best if she was outside; and since Haruka, for reasons unknown to her, felt that another attack was about to happen, she agreed quickly to that suggestion, experiencing strange mixed feelings now as she walked along next to Michiru, somehow feeing simultaneously relaxed by the other woman's presence and agitated by the feeling that another attack could happen any moment.

"Sometimes, I wish those calls would come in a bit earlier", Michiru commented next to her, distracting her from her thoughts and showing her that at least about the next attack, she felt quite the same way, "and not just when it's already happening. One of these days, we might be too late, and the enemy will get their hands on a talisman."

"Then we'll take it from them", Haruka confidently gave back, prompting the smaller woman to wish that she could feel just as confident about this, "even if we are too slow one day, we might still be able to stop them. Or perhaps, the call will improve or something and warn you earlier."

"That would be nice", Michiru dryly replied, earning a low chuckle from the blonde; after a moment, she smiled as well, only to freeze in her tracks seconds later as the call they just had been speaking about reached her, sending shivers up and down her spine.

Next to her, just as she opened her mouth to say something about the feeling, Haruka stopped as well, her eyes narrowing; then, she took in an audible breath, Michiru once more belatedly realizing that she was sniffing, a frown furrowing her brow when she spoke up before the smaller woman had the chance to. "Something's… going on. I don't know how to describe it, but I feel something."

"An attack", Michiru clued her in, "somewhere… east from here. We better hurry."

And whiles she was still saying the last few words, she got moving, the blonde easily hurrying along beside her; Michiru had the feeling that she could have been much faster, without even breathing harder, but was holding back out of consideration for her, momentarily tempted to transform already just so they could run faster.

Then, she scolded herself for even thinking something so reckless, reminding herself of the fact that there were regular people all around; Haruka and she already attracted more than enough attention with the simple fact that they were almost running by now, several people turning to look at them with raised eyebrows as they rushed by.

"We're getting closer", Michiru let her companion know, earning a nod in response; briefly, she wondered what exactly Haruka was feeling, since, as far as she knew, the blonde wasn't connected to an element the way she was connected to the sea, then she shrugged it off and sped up even further, thankful for her Senshi stamina and strength, which allowed her to run without ending up out of breath.

"Almost there", Haruka said a few minutes of by now high-speed running later, with a distinctive growl in her voice, a sound which might have scared a regular person, but merely made Michiru smile, "find somewhere safe to transform, I'll go ahead and see what is going on. Maybe do some damage before you join in."

Even though she didn't like the thought of Haruka facing whatever was terrorizing people there alone, Michiru nodded, knowing that the blonde was better equipped for physical brawling than she was; and thus, she hurried off to find a secluded place while Haruka kept running, towards the park from where the strange call was originating.

It didn't take long until the first cries reached her ears, a low growl coming from her in response; not caring about anyone who might see her, not during such a moment of crisis, she reached for her wolf, not enough to go full beast form, but enough to let it be noticeable, a familiar tingle coming from her skin and an equally familiar twinge of pain from her jaw as her teeth changed.

She hadn't been running long enough yet to grow tired, but still felt fresh strength surge through her as the wolf came to the surface; with another snarl, she sped up even further, only to almost screech to a halt mere seconds later, yellowed eyes at first widening, then narrowing as she took in the scene in front of her.

Clearly, some sort of contest had been taking place before the daimon attack, something she figured had to do with lovers, if the giant heart-shaped sculpture was any indication; a young guy was on his knees in front of it, a seemingly unharmed girl next to him – and not too far away from them, she spotted the five other Senshi she had seen once before, when she had really fought by Michiru's side for the first time.

_What the Hell are they doing, _she asked herself after just staring for a few heartbeats, now raising her eyebrows, _are they _dancing_?! At a time like this?_

Obviously, despite how hard it was to believe, this was just what they were doing; the creature which had stolen the young guy's Heart Crystal was standing there and watching while the five girls were busy grooving away with an equal number of guys, the blonde shaking her head to herself as she wondered how they could not know that this had to be some kind of trap.

As if those thoughts had been some sort of signal, the men suddenly changed, turning into somewhat gruesome looking monsters, their arms lengthening with ease and wrapping around the Senshi, their startled cries causing Haruka to let out a sigh – clearly, for whatever strange reason, they had _not _noticed that it was a trap, and now it was up to her to clean up this mess, at least until Neptune would arrive and join her.

"You again!" a familiar voice called out to her before she could get involved in the action though, another growl coming from her as she glanced around and spotted Kaorinite, "I thought I warned you to stay away from me! Die Heart! Get her out of the way!"

"Why don't we find you a dance partner, too, eh?" the daimon wanted to know in reply, either not noticing or not caring about the blonde's wolfish appearance; she let out a little snort in reply, then slid into a fighting stance, her voice cold as she replied. "No, thanks. I don't dance."

And with the last word, she shot forward, ignoring the monsters still holding the Senshi captive and going for the daimon who had created them instead; obviously, the creature had not been expecting this, since all it did was to take a step back, a yelp coming from it when the blonde barrelled into it and forced it down to the ground, the unexpected attack and the damage done by it ruining its concentration enough to break the spell which had conjured up the five other monsters.

"I warned you!" Kaorinite angrily shouted while the Senshi still were recovering from the unexpected attack, "I told you what would happen if you'd get in my way again!"

Her eyes turning skyward was the only warning Haruka got, and it almost came too late; with a snarl, she threw herself off to the left, lightning hitting the ground where she had been a second later, leaving smoking scorch marks in the grass, the daimon scrambling back frantically as well, clearly not having expected the attack to hit so close to her.

"You're fast", Kaorinite grudgingly had to admit, giving her another glare, "but that won't safe you in the long run, sooner or later, you will grow tired and then I'll get you!"

"Don't be too sure about that", the blonde snarled in reply, from the corner of her eye noticing how the Senshi were staring at her, looking rather abashed by her appearance; ignoring them for now, she let out another growl as she kept her gaze focused on Kaorinite, the redhead's eyes narrowing as she called on her strange powers yet again.

"_Deep Submerge!" _The attack didn't surprise her as much as Neptune had wanted it to, and she managed to jump out of the way in time; with a harsh curse, she glared at the newly arrived Senshi, then her gaze moved to the daimon, a hint of shrillness in her voice when she told it to take care of them for her.

"You leave me alone with them?!" the daimon protested, a protest Kaorinite didn't even hear anymore though; grumbling, the creature turned to face the Senshi, looking slightly nervous as it now found itself confronted with six Senshi and a rather pissed off werewolf.

Thanks to the rather unbalanced odds and at the fact that now, the trick with the dancing monsters didn't work a second time, the daimon was handled with easy and dispatched quickly; and afterwards, Neptune was the first to reach the pure heart, Haruka right behind her, still keeping up the wolfish appearance, figuring that it might be just enough of a disguise to keep the Senshi from recognizing her again, should they run into each other in their civilian form.

A quick glance told Neptune that it wasn't a talisman, the other Senshi watching with evident relief how she returned the crystal to its owner, one of them calling out to her afterwards, demanding to know who she was.

"Sailor Neptune", she replied, straightening up and facing them, not sure what to think of them – as far as she knew, they didn't share her mission to find the talismans, and from how they always seemed concerned about the victims of the daimons, she doubted they just would accept the fact that whoever carried a talisman would have to go on without their pure heart crystal, or perhaps even might die from the loss of it.

"What are you after", another of the Senshi demanded to know, sounding just a tad hostile now, "the pure heart crystals?"

"No", Neptune replied, not willing to tell them more; her short answer apparently didn't satisfy the other Senshi, since they all frowned, none of them asking her to clarify though, their gaze moving to Haruka instead – before the one with long, open blonde hair smirked, sounding appreciative as she spoke up. "And who's that hot guy fighting with you?"

"Venus!" the one Neptune knew to be Sailor Mars scolded, prompting the blonde to hang her head in shame, "this is really not the time to ogle hot guys!"

"He seems familiar", Venus tried to defend herself, prompting Mars to roll her eyes; she started berating her again, then seemed to change her mind about it, her gaze focusing on Neptune once more, her voice hard when she demanded to know what she was after and why she had come to Tokyo.

"My mission led me here", she replied, not bothering to sound friendly anymore either, "and it is none of your concern."

And with the final words, she turned and marched off, Haruka following suit; the other Senshi called after them, but neither of them reacted, the other girls soon left behind and out of sight, even though both knew that soon, they would run into them again, and that perhaps next time, things might not end as civilly as they had now.


	13. Chapter 13

"It was wise that you didn't change back right away", Michiru told Haruka a short while later, after they had found a café and had sat down and ordered, "just in case we run into them into their civilian forms, it might help to keep them from recognizing you as my fight companion."

"Yeah I figured", Haruka nodded, "especially after they weren't all too friendly now. I suppose working with them is not an option?"

"I'm afraid not", Michiru sighed, stirring her tea so it'd cool down faster, "the sacrifice our mission might demand… they will not be willing to make it. And if they interfere at the wrong time, it will put the whole world in danger."

"Good point", the blonde had to admit, "I don't know much about them, but from what I do know, it seems as if they're quite… idealistic. Let's just hope they won't try to mess things up for us."

"Indeed", the smaller woman agreed, "I don't want to fight them, but I will if I have to."

To her relief, Haruka nodded in response to that, clearly trusting her judgement about those other Senshi and not questioning her; she briefly smiled at her, then took a sip of her tea, a small sigh escaping her afterwards as she asked herself how much longer they would have to fight and if they'd at least find one talisman soon.

"That Kaorinite person is getting quite annoying", Haruka distracted her from those thoughts, the slight growl in her voice making Michiru smile, "I thought we might take her down, but then she just ran off. And that lightning attack she used was quite dangerous."

"I didn't even know she can do that", the smaller woman pondered in response, "this gives me worry, honestly, if she can do that, who knows what other powers she has."

"Makes me wonder why she bothers with the daimon thingies", Haruka gave back, raising an eyebrow, "if she can randomly throw around lightning and perhaps has other tricks up her sleeve."

"Good question", Michiru nodded, frowning slightly, "but she did leave the daimon behind to fight us, so she could escape. Perhaps she is not as skilled at fighting as she made it seem."

"I suppose we'll find out sooner or later", Haruka said with a small shrug, interrupting herself with a gulp of coffee before she went on, "even though I hope we'll find what we are looking for soon."

"Me too", Michiru agreed, now smiling slightly again; after a moment, Haruka smiled back at her, and warmth bloomed in her chest, giving her pause as she asked herself what that meant now, why a simple smile was enough to make her feel that way, after knowing her companion for such a short time only.

Then, she blamed it on the adrenaline after yet another successful battle, unaware of the fact that Haruka felt quite the same whenever she smiled at her; clearing her throat, she changed the topic by asking what they should do with the rest of the afternoon, now that they had taken care of yet another attack and it was unlikely that one more would happen in the same day, refusing to admit to herself how much she wanted to spend more time with the blonde and just didn't want to part from her yet.

* * *

During the next week, the two dealt with more attacks, also spending time together when they were not fighting monsters and getting to know each other better; during each of the fights, they also ran into the other Sailor Senshi again, and were pestered with questions from them each time, both of them refusing to answer, to the great dismay of the five.

Even though working with them still wasn't an option, both Haruka and Michiru felt strangely drawn to the group, something they never mentioned to each other though, and thus had no idea they both had those feelings; and just as they kept quiet about this, they didn't talk about the growing attraction each felt for the other one, merely stealing glances and innocent, seemingly random touches instead, each of them convinced that their friendship had been going on way too short to allow the discussion of any deeper feelings.

At least by now, simple physical contact didn't bring up the scent of roses anymore, something Michiru mentioned in a seemingly off-handed manner after her hand had _accidentally _brushed the back of Haruka's during one of the many meals they had together; in response, Haruka had let out the throaty chuckle Michiru had grown to like quite much during the last days and told her that she wasn't exactly sad about it, making her companion giggle, as well, the smaller woman figuring that such an unexpected, strong scent couldn't be pleasant for someone with a nose as fine as Haruka's.

Still, she found herself wondering what the reason for the sudden lack of rose scent was, if it was a good or a bad thing; she still remembered well how it had come up out of nowhere for the first time, when she had met Haruka, and how convinced she had been back then that it had to mean something. On the other hand, by now, the feeling of wrongness was fully gone, replaced by how right it felt to fight with Haruka by her side; every now and then, she still found it strange that a werewolf had been chosen to aid her in this fight, and not another Senshi, but so far, it worked out just perfectly fine, with the blonde doing the physical combat up close and her fighting from the distance.

To her amusement, the other Senshi clearly hadn't figured out yet that Haruka wasn't just a bearded guy helping her, but a woman and a werewolf at that; on the other hand though, so far, none of them had gotten close enough to her during a fight to notice the wolfish teeth and the yellow eyes, and since the fight in the concert hall, the blonde hadn't used her beast form again so far, taking care of their enemies without the need for it.

Now, as she got ready to meet up with Haruka again, putting on the final touches in form of light make-up, Michiru found herself thinking of Kaorinite and her threat against both of them again; so far, the redhead hadn't really tried to fulfil it, merely displaying annoyance when yet another daimon was destroyed and yet another pure heart crystal turned out to not be the talismans they were looking for, not even using her lightning attack on them anymore.

_Let's hope she's not just powering up or something, _Michiru pondered as she moved to the small anteroom of her apartment, putting on her shoes and jacket there, a quick glance at her watch telling her that she'd be at the meeting point in time, _and then hits us when we least expect it._

Thanks to how reckless Haruka tended to be in battle, she had been able to witness her healing powers more than she would have liked during the last few days, and had been glad that her friend had them each and every time; still, with knowing that Kaorinite knew what Haruka was, and thus probably also had found out by now how to do some serious, lasting damage to her, she didn't like the idea of the redhead preparing some sort of hit against them, not wanting her newfound friend to get dreadfully injured after she had dragged her into all of this.

Realizing that by now, she thought of Haruka as her friend and not just as a battle companion gave her pause, briefly surprised her; so far in her life, it hadn't been easy for her to make friends, a process which often had taken her months with some people and had withered away and died with others, but with Haruka, it had come so easy, so naturally, that she hadn't even realized it was happening until this very moment, a slight smile curling her lips as she realized once more that indeed, the blonde was her friend now.

_Meant to be_, a small voice whispered in the back of her mind, one which didn't sound like her own at all, startling her; uneasy now, she glanced around, not sure what to think of this now – the voice had been strangely familiar, but the thought of hearing voices in her head didn't exactly appeal to her, thoughts of post-traumatic stress disorder and her mind cracking under the constant strain her destiny put her dancing through her brain.

Standing perfectly still, she waited to see if the voice had anything else to see, even though part of her was aware of how crazy this was; when nothing else came, she shook her head slightly, as if that might help with clearing it, then finally left her apartment, heading to the nearest train station, walking a bit faster than usual after a quick glance at her watch told her that she had taken a bit longer than she had thought she would to get ready.

_Probably because you were pondering if you're losing your mind, _she bitterly thought to herself; when Haruka had joined her in the fight, she had been sure that it would get easier, and that hope had been fulfilled, but still the knowledge that now, it was up to the two of them to stop the end of the world, weighed heavily on her, each failed try to find a talisman only increasing the burden.

_You should talk to Haruka about this, _she advised herself as she reached the train station, relieved to see that she had made it, the train just arriving, _she'll understand. And talking about it might help, just like when you stayed at her place and had that nightmare._

The thought of how fast Haruka had stormed into the guestroom back then, with her wolf showing clearly, made Michiru smile slightly to herself, not caring if the other passengers thought of her as odd for standing there and smiling for no apparent reason; once the blonde had left her alone again to let her get some sleep, she fully had realized how quick Haruka had been, going from fast asleep to awake and alert in the blink of an eye the second she had heard her scream.

_You can count yourself lucky to have an ally like her, _she pondered as she looked out the window, at the bypassing city outside, _and that she accepted this so quickly… I'm not sure how much longer I could have done this alone._

She held back a grimace as she thought of all the battles she had gone through without a strong, fast werewolf to help her; now that she had an ally so skilled in close combat and could use her attacks from afar, the battles had become much easier for her, even though she still was wary enough of the creatures they faced on a regular basis to keep herself from underestimating them.

_If only Haruka would be a bit more careful, _she then thought to herself, unable to hold back a shudder as she thought of how during their last battle, the daimon had clamped a mouth filled with sharp, pointed teeth down onto her friend's arm and had torn a large chunk of flesh out; it had healed quickly, as always, but still had looked gruesome and painful, and probably could have been avoided if Haruka had taken a bit more care.

_Better tell her about that, too, _she decided while the train slowed down, reaching the stop at which she'd have to get off, _she might heal fast, but even that might have limits…_

Spotting the object of her thoughts through the windows in the train's door distracted her from them, and she didn't even notice that she started to smile; clearly, Haruka had seen her too, starting to move down the platform to meet her halfway after the train had finally stopped and the doors opened, allowing her to step onto the platform, concern immediately filling her when she took a closer look at Haruka and saw how tense the blonde was.

"What is it", she demanded to know, momentarily amazing her friend with how well she could read her by now, despite how shortly they actually knew each other, "is something wrong? Another attack? I'm not feeling anything…"

"No new attack, at least none I can tell about", Haruka gave back at once, keeping her voice low so none of the pedestrians around would hear what she said, "but… while I was waiting for you, some guy walked past me, and… we kinda noticed each other. He's another wolf, and that makes no sense because my pack is the only one nearby, the only one coming here, it's our territory, he shouldn't be here."

She realized that she was rambling and forced herself to shut up, swallowing heavily – having another wolf in what was basically part of their territory, something all the other packs in Japan knew and accepted, had upset her more than she had expected, and for a few dreadful moments, she had to fight to keep her wolf under control, knowing she couldn't let it come to the front amongst so many people.

"I know we had plans", she added, now feeling guilty on top of agitated about the other wolf, "but I really have to find out what this guy is doing here, if he's trying to impose on our territory or if another pack sent him… I'm sorry…"

"Don't be", Michiru told her at once, "if you want me to, I can come with you? Just in case he's not here for pack business, but tries anything…"

For a moment, Haruka felt like telling her no, reminding herself of the fact that this was strictly pack business and had nothing to do with their mission; then, she thought of having to leave Michiru again after just a few minutes, her heart clenched up, and she made herself nod, even though she knew that she might be leading her straight to danger, should the other wolf turn out to be hostile.

"It might get dangerous", she told her as they started walking, the blonde easily finding the other wolf's scent among all the regular humans, "just in case he's hostile."

"Then it's a good thing we'll face him together", Michiru gave back with a slight smile, holding back a comment about how she didn't mind danger of any kind as long as Haruka was facing it with her – they had become friends surprisingly quickly, and she didn't want to risk that friendship by saying such things too early, no matter how true they were.

Nodding, Haruka smiled back at her, then focused on the scent; trusting in her abilities, Michiru walked along beside her, asking herself who this other wolf might be, what his business in Tokyo was – and what would happen once Haruka had tracked him down.


	14. Chapter 14

Haruka moved with a confidence and speed that surprised Michiru, prompting the smaller woman to wonder if werewolves really had a scent so much different from regular humans that she could pick it out of the mass of scents all around; and thinking about this led her to wonder if her scent differed so vastly from those of others, as well, and if this was why Haruka always found her so quickly when an attack happened while they were apart.

Making a mental note to herself to ask her about this, Michiru glanced around as she walked next to her, trying to figure out where the scent might lead; by her side, Haruka noticed nothing of those ponderings, her attention fully on the smell of the other werewolf, the urge to snarl and growl strong within her as she kept walking, finding it hard to believe that a lone wolf could be dumb enough to intrude here, in a town which was widely known to be territory of her pack.

_He better have a good reason for that, _she angrily thought to herself, taking another deep breath to make sure she wouldn't lose his scent; she barely noticed that Michiru was next to her, fully focused on the intruder and on how she would deal with him once she'd found him.

_Remember what Dad taught you, _she told herself, the scent leading her down the next street to her right, _find out first what he wants, if he's a threat. Don't attack him right away._

To her surprise, the scent led her to an obviously old, but well taken care of temple, intensifying so much there that it left no room for doubt – this was where the wolf was staying, and just a few moments later, she spotted him, a young man, his shaggy, shoulder-length hair immediately giving him away to her trained eyes, having changed from the casual clothing he had been wearing when she had seen him first at the train station to the robes of a temple apprentice, standing on the steps leading up to it and sweeping them with great enthusiasm.

Then, he noticed her, as well, stopping in mid-sweep and sniffing loud enough to let her hear it, even though he was still several feet away; slowly, he turned, dark eyes peeking out from beneath his way too long bangs – and the second his gaze met hers, he dropped the broom and growled loudly, Michiru stepping back in shock when the same noise came from Haruka in response, no extra hair or longer teeth present yet, but the flash of yellow in her eyes telling the smaller woman that those add-ons weren't far away anymore.

"Haruka!" she still had time to say, startled, the blonde not even reacting the slightest to her though; instead, she and the young man shot forward at exactly the same instant, and to her shock, both of them changed as they sped towards as each other, bypassing the mild signs for wolf she knew so well by now and going straight into beast form, the transformation happening so fast that by the time they reached each other, two bulky beasts slammed into each other, their loud growls and snarls drowning out the shocked cry which came from Michiru at the sight.

Even though he had changed into beast form as effortlessly as she had, Haruka quickly realized that he was far from as skilled at fighting as she was; she had been trained in the art of fighting in her beast form ever since her first change into it, when she had been a mere toddler, and from the way he clumsily tried to swipe at her, it was obvious that he hadn't had the same training.

Easily, she ducked another hit, then shot forward and tackled him; he ended up flat on his back, pinned beneath her, and she could have finished it then and there; and for the gall he had shown by attacking her without provocation, on her territory, pack law would have given her the right to do so, only the fact that a chorus of female voices cried out in shock stopping her from tearing his exposed stomach open.

"No!" one of them went on while Michiru realized, not really to her surprise, that it was the group of girls Haruka and she had seen a few times by now, the one with long, black hair now talking, "don't kill him!"

"Him?!" another one of them demanded to know incredulously, Michiru not paying much attention to them though, hurrying to Haruka's side instead and placing a calming hand on her shoulder, the simple fact that the smaller woman dared to touch her like this, in her current form, being enough to snap Haruka out of her rage and make her move back, giving the other wolf a chance to get back on his feet.

To Michiru's surprise, he did no such thing, but remained on his back, his vulnerable belly exposed to the blonde; it took her a second to realize what he was doing, namely submitting to her friend, only rolling over and getting up when she let out a low growl, then lowered herself down on all fours next to Michiru, the smaller woman placing a hand on the back of her neck and gently rubbing the fur there without even thinking about it, merely amazed at how soft the fur felt despite how bristly it looked.

"Yuuichirou!" the black haired girl now snapped, in a scolding tone of voice, approaching the other beast with no fear, while her four friends just stood and stared, "how dare you! On the temple grounds?!"

In response, the defeated beast let out a pitiful whimper, clearly not capable of speech in this form, unlike the Alpha of Haruka's pack; the only answer he got was that the girl glared at him, and after another whimper, he changed back, hanging his head low after he had returned to human.

"I'm sorry, Rei", he then whined, shuffling his feet while Rei crossed her arms over her chest now, levelling another glare his way, "I know I shouldn't have…"

"Yes", Rei gave back, still sounding strict, Michiru watching this exchange with as much fascination as the other girl's friends, "we will speak of this later. Go back to your duties now, or you'll get Grandfather angry at you, as well."

"Yes, Rei", he replied at once, bowing so deeply that his nose almost touched the ground, "please forgive me!"

She merely sighed in reply, and he gave her another unhappy look before he scurried to pick up his broom again, then wisely moved away to sweep somewhere else; and the moment he was out of earshot, Rei focused on Michiru and Haruka, her voice surprisingly friendly when she spoke up again.

"Your… friend might want to change back to", she told the other woman, pausing just long enough before the word "friend" to let Michiru notice and wonder what it meant, "Yuuichirou's no threat anymore. And we won't tell anyone."

"I wouldn't even know what to tell", the tall brunette standing behind her quipped, "what exactly is going on here, Rei?"

"I'll explain later", Rei gave back, without looking at her; clearly, all four accepted this, merely exchanging curious looks while the black haired girl kept her gaze now focused on the beast next to Michiru, not looking scared though, but merely interested, still sounding friendly as she went on. "I mean it, no one here's a threat to you. But if you'd be more comfortable changing back once we are gone, we can leave."

In response, Haruka merely moved even closer to Michiru, until she was almost pressed against her legs; keeping her hand on the beast's neck, the smaller woman rubbed her soothingly some more, and after a moment, Rei nodded, then turned to look at her friends, telling them that they had to go back inside, in a tone which didn't allow talking back.

"If you want to talk about what happened, you are welcome to join us in the temple once you feel up to it", she then added, glancing back over her shoulder at the two; not sure what to reply, Michiru merely nodded while Haruka let out a snort, both of them watching how the five girls moved back up the steps and vanished from sight not long afterwards, Michiru focusing on Haruka again the second they were out of sight.

"So", she then said, still running her fingers through the soft fur in the blonde's neck, "you want to change back now that they are gone?"

The werewolf let out a low growl in response, then moved a few steps away from her, forcing her to pull back her hand so she wouldn't accidentally pull at her fur; Haruka let out another snarl as she straightened up again, the change back happening as fast as the initial one, her tall, lanky and human form standing a few steps away from Michiru just a few seconds later.

"Are you alright?" Michiru demanded to know the moment the transformation had finished, "he didn't hurt you, did he? And what exactly just happened?"

"I'm fine", Haruka reassured her, moving closer to her again, "he wasn't a very skilled fighter. As for what just happened, he recognized me for what I am, realized he's on the territory of my pack, and challenged me. Quite foolishly, I have to add. And I guess now, we better go and talk to these girls about what just happened."

"Do you think that's wise?" Michiru wanted to know, worried about her secret identity and the mission Haruka was helping her with, "we could just leave, no?"

"No", Haruka sighed, "I have to find out who he is, what he is doing here, and report to my father. Pack business. Sorry…"

"…alright", Michiru agreed after a moment of thinking about this, figuring that the blonde had made some valid points, "let's go then."

Clearly relieved about having her support, Haruka gave her a slight smile, then started climbing the temple steps, the smaller woman right beside her again, suddenly eager to learn more about this other werewolf, as well, and strangely drawn to the five girls once more, all at once sure that there was more to the group than she initially had thought.


	15. Chapter 15

"Welcome", the girl named Rei greeted them the moment they stepped inside, smiling pleasantly at them, as if she hadn't seen Haruka in her much more dangerous form just minutes ago, "I'm glad you took me up on my offer. And I apologize for Yuuichirou's foolish behaviour."

"You're not the one who has to", Haruka replied, sounding surprisingly indifferent, "you're not his Alpha."

"No", Rei confirmed what hadn't been a question, but a simple statement, "I'm not. What I am to him is… complicated. I am, in a way, responsible for him though, so I'm the one who apologizes to you."

"Still having no clue what is going on here", the brunette pointed out again, "care to clue us in anytime soon, Rei? What was going on with Yuuichirou and that guy over there?"

"I'm not a guy", Haruka finally got rid of that notion, just as the two blondes of the group started to go wide-eyed, recognizing her as the "hot guy" they had seen around a few times, "and I find it hard to believe that apparently, you are close friends, one of you lives in the same house… temple… with a werewolf, and you don't notice any of it."

"They didn't", Rei answered while the other four gasped and gaped, exchanging startled looks before they all stared at Haruka again, "we managed to keep his wolf down so far. Running into you is what brought it out again, they never would have known if you two hadn't decided to fight on our porch."

"I did not _decide _to fight", Haruka corrected her, her voice cold now, "he's intruding in the territory of my pack, and he attacked me. I fought back, and if I had wanted to, I could have killed him."

At this, four of the five girls let out a perfectly synchronized gasp, to Michiru's slight amusement, forcing her to quickly fake a cough so they wouldn't see her slight smile; Haruka ignored them fully though, keeping her gaze focused on Rei, the black haired girl looking back at her calmly, not appearing all too upset by her words.

"I know you could have", she told the blonde, to Michiru's surprise not all too perturbed by the thought, or at least not letting it show if she was, "and I thank you for not doing it. I promise that he will not attack you again, and that he will not interfere with your pack, you, or your friends."

"What is he doing here", Haruka demanded to know in reply, her hard tone of voice prompting Michiru to reach over and place a hopefully calming hand on her arm, "he should know this is the territory of our pack. And that he is not permitted to just enter without our knowledge."

"It's complicated", Rei gave back, with a small sigh, "his own pack doesn't want him anymore, so they didn't bother to help him in any way when he left. He had no idea you are here when he came here, and that this was territory of another pack. Neither did I, or I would have sent him to you, you have my word on that."

She briefly fell silent, giving Haruka the chance to say something; when the blonde didn't do so, she took in a deep breath, then bowed slightly, earning more gasps from her friends, giving Michiru cause to wonder if normally, she wasn't so polite and pleasant to be around.

"I apologize again for his behaviour", Rei repeated, "and let me reassure you once more that he is not going to do something like this again, should you meet him again."

"How could you not tell us this", one of her friends wanted to know, the blonde who wore her hair in two freakishly long pigtails, "what if he had gone crazy like that around one of us?! We couldn't have fought him off the way she did!"

"He wouldn't have attacked you", Rei replied, turning to glare at her, "don't be stupid, Usagi. He only attacked her because she's a wolf, like him."

"Maybe", Haruka threw in, prompting both Usagi and Rei to look at her with confusion and causing her to elaborate, "meeting another wolf unexpectedly might have… set him off, yes. But if you try to make him suppress the wolf, it might happen with a regular human the next time. Keeping the wolf down will harm him in the long run, make it harder for him to control it."

"Oh", Rei replied, not all too smart or eloquent, but clearly at a loss for words; worried again, Michiru glanced towards the temple's main entrance, almost expecting the young man to burst in any second, in full beast or maybe even wolf form, ready to devour them all.

"It's not gonna happen right now", Haruka told them with a roll of her eyes, having picked up on how nervous they all suddenly were, "he just fought me in beast form, that'll undo any damage for a while. Just let him wolf out every now and then and he'll be alright."

"He can stay, then?" Rei immediately wanted to know, now sounding so hopeful that the blonde couldn't help herself, but just had to smile slightly, her voice still serious though when she replied, her words making the black haired girl nod eagerly. "For now, yes. As long as he doesn't make trouble for the pack, for me, or for my friends."

"He won't", Rei reassured her at once, sounding immensely relieved now, "thank you. Your Alpha will be fine with this?"

"He trusts my judgement", Haruka let her know, Michiru noting that she didn't reveal the fact that said Alpha was her father, "as long as he keeps in line, there won't be a problem."

"He will, I promise", the younger girl sincerely gave back, "thank you, again. This means a lot to me and will mean a lot to him, as well."

"You still should have told us", one of the other girls admonished, Haruka remembering her from the ramen shop, mostly due to her rather distinctive blue hair, "we're all such close friends, we shouldn't have such secrets from each other."

"Yuuichirou didn't want me to tell", Rei explained in response, turning to look at her, "he said only Grandfather and I can know, and that it should be kept secret from anyone else."

They all noticed Haruka nodding at that, and looked at her expectantly; not sure what they wanted to hear, she shrugged after a moment, fighting the urge to fidget under their curious looks as she replied verbally, as well.

"Wolf thing", she let the girls know, "not too long ago, people hunted us down for sport. And sometimes for our fur and teeth. So we only tell those close to us, and ask them not to tell anyone else."

"This is fascinating", the blue-haired girl said, now looking at Haruka with an interest so intense that it did make her fidget after all, "a real werewolf, alive and in the flesh. I never would have thought I'd get the chance to speak to such a creature."

"Don't call her a creature", Michiru now spoke up for the first time since entering the temple with her friend, sounding indignant, her expression softening a bit though when the girl blushed brightly in reply and mumbled an apology, looking so uncomfortable that it almost made Michiru feel bad.

"Ami", the brunette found it necessary to scold her friend as well, only causing her blush to deepen, "seriously, you sit here and say barely nothing all day, and when you do speak, you say an outrageous thing like that."

"Sorry", Ami apologized again, glancing at Haruka uneasily, as if she now expected the blonde to attack her any second, "I meant no offense."

"None taken", the blonde told her, too good-hearted to let her squirm any longer, "just make sure not to repeat that word when you're speaking to another werewolf, they might react with much more dismay than I just did."

"Of course", Ami reassured her, impossibly blushing even deeper; having mercy on her, Rei changed the topic by asking if anyone wanted something to drink, and to their surprise, both Haruka and Michiru told her that tea would be lovely, the two exchanging a surprised look afterwards, neither of them sure why they thus had agreed to stay for at least a drink, but both of them somehow just knowing that it was the right thing to do.

* * *

An hour later, they were at their second cup of tea, and even though she knew it was childish and not justified in the least, Michiru couldn't help herself, but just had to feel jealous as she watched Haruka interact with the girls, the blonde clearly enjoying herself as she more or less openly flirted with all of them – and, to Michiru's surprise, none of them seemed to be put off, even though by now, they were well aware of her gender.

_Don't be ridiculous, _she chided herself, _there's no reason to feel like this, it's not like you're dating her or anything. And she can make new friends, just like you can, no one ever said…_

Her train of thought got derailed abruptly when she watched how Haruka leaned closer to Usagi, mumbling something to her that made her blush a rather interesting shade of red; without realizing that she was doing it, Michiru clenched her fists, unsure why she felt this way, but unable to help herself – Haruka had made flirtatious remarks towards her before, and she always had responded in kind, and seeing her do the same with some other girl she just had met had her seething with jealousy and even a hint of anger.

At least though, she had to give Haruka credit for apparently noticing that she wasn't all too happy; the taller woman took one closer look at her, then excused herself and moved over to her, concern in her voice when she asked her in a low tone if she was alright.

"Yes", Michiru curtly replied, realizing that she couldn't tell her the truth – after all, they were just friends, and if she told her now that watching her flirt with other girls was making her jealous, the blonde might end up thinking of her as some kind of crazy clingy person, and this was the last thing she wanted.

"Just tired", she thus added, feeling bad about not being honest with her friend, but wanting to put her at ease; judging from the doubtful look Haruka shot her, the taller woman didn't quite believe her, but didn't push the issue, clearly feeling that it wouldn't be appropriate with the group of girls within earshot.

"Okay", she thus just said, giving her another doubtful look; forcing a smile which felt way too fake onto her face, Michiru told her once more that she was okay, then came to her feet, adding that she'd just get some fresh air for a moment, earning a nod and another worried look from Haruka, the smile vanishing from her face the moment she had turned her back on the blonde.

Now not bothering to hide how glum she was feeling anymore, Michiru stepped out into the fresh air, taking in a deep breath there; she spotted Yuuichirou in the yard, still busy with sweeping, the young man noticing her as well and waving at her, then focusing on his task again, apparently undisturbed by how she just stood there and watched him.

For a few minutes, she just watched him in silence, then the footsteps approaching her distracted her and prompted her to turn; to her surprise, it was Rei approaching her, appearing concerned as well when she asked her if she was okay and if she needed anything.

"I'm fine", Michiru reassured her, asking herself where this was coming from now, "just wanted some fresh air."

"I imagine Haruka's flirty nature gives you some headaches, huh", Rei wanted to know in reply, misinterpreting the startled silence from Michiru as agreement, "have you tried telling her that?"

"What", Michiru finally brought out, "her… no, I haven't. Why should I? We're friends. Just friends, I mean."

"Oh", Rei gave back, her eyes briefly widening before her cheeks reddened, "I'm sorry, I thought… It's just, well…"

"What?" Michiru wanted to know, raising an eyebrow, asking herself if Haruka and she gave off some kind of couple-vibe; clearing her throat, Rei shrugged, then made a vague gesture at Yuuichirou, unnoticed by the young man, still sounding embarrassed as she replied.

"Well, you see", she tried stalling for a few seconds, until Michiru raised an eyebrow at her and prompted her to finally get to the point, "Yuuichirou told me that, if he ever goes into beast form around me, I'm not to touch him, under no circumstances. Maybe it's different in Haruka's pack, but the wolves in his would only let those closest to them touch them in that form. You know… only their lovers. And you were rubbing her neck when she was like that, so I kinda jumped to conclusions and thought… And she got so close to you, too…"

"Oh", it now was Michiru's turn to reply not all too eloquently, "I didn't know that, she never said anything. But, no, we're not a couple, as I said… just friends."

"Sorry for being presumptuous", Rei apologized, blushing again, "I shouldn't have just assumed…"

"It's alright", Michiru reassured her, deciding not to comment on how it was understandable, considering her jealous reaction, "but now, I guess we better head back inside, just to make sure Haruka isn't driving your friends bonkers. Or showing them nifty werewolf tricks, I doubt her… the Alpha would like that."

Smiling again now, Rei nodded, not letting it show that she had noticed Michiru briefly hesitating; smiling back at her, Michiru turned to move back into the temple, the other girl following her suit, finding Haruka talking to the blue haired girl named Ami, holding back a sigh as she sat down next to her, once more telling herself that she had no reason to be jealous and that she shouldn't feel this way, finding herself unable though to keep those feelings down.


	16. Chapter 16

She was up against the wall, her back pressed against the cold stone, and she wanted to moan, to cry out, but Haruka's mouth was firmly on hers, successfully muffling any noises she did let out; one of the blonde's hands was beneath her shirt, caressing and massaging there, while the other was resting on her thigh, the mere touch being enough to make the skin there hot and tingly.

"Haruka", she brought out as the taller woman finally pulled back from the kiss, giving her a chance to both breathe and talk, "please…"

With the glint of passion clear in her eyes, Haruka fulfilled the unspoken wish, her hand gliding from her thigh to a much more sensitive area, and with a gasp, her head flew back into her neck, sweat rolling down her brow as she squeezed her eyes shut…

…then opened them again in the darkness of her bedroom, her heart racing in her chest, the heat between her legs telling her in no uncertain terms that the dream had had quite the effect on her.

"Christ", she mumbled to herself, shaking her head to clear it, stunned by how for a moment, she could actually still feel Haruka's lips on hers, her hands on her body, "what the…?"

Sitting up, she ran both hands through her hair, trying to sort out her thoughts; the dream had been better, much better, than the nightmares which had plagued her sleep the last few nights, but upset her almost as much – with the nightmares, she at least knew what they meant, but she had no idea what to make of this dream.

_Oh, quit lying to yourself, _she then scolded herself, dropping back onto the pillow with a heavy sigh, _you've never lied to yourself before, about your mission or your calling, so now is not the time to start._

"I want her", Michiru said out loud, another sigh following those words; if her jealousy at the temple hadn't been enough of an indicator for this fact, the dream surely was, forcing thoughts she had banned to the farthest corner of her mind during the last few days right up to the very front.

Sticking to the policy of being honest with herself, Michiru had to admit that this wasn't coming as a surprise – she already had thought of Haruka as very attractive when she first had laid eyes on her, and only had grown to like her more and more during their time fighting together and hanging out together, now very aware of how her feelings of friendship towards her were changing into something else.

Momentarily, she asked herself if it was the same for Haruka, if the blonde had deeper emotions for her than she let on, as well; after all, she had noticed her friend stealing glances at her whenever she thought she wasn't looking, especially at her legs whenever she was in her Senshi form and at the rest of her whenever she was not.

Then, she realized that, even if Haruka had similar feelings, they were in no position to give in to them now – their mission had to come first, and Michiru knew how any romantic feelings might jeopardize it in a critical moment, might make one of them look out for the other when they were supposed to be focused solely on the talismans and on finding them.

"Any feelings you have for her will have to wait until you completed your mission", she strictly told herself, not liking her own words, but knowing that she had to think like the soldier she was if she wanted their mission to succeed – and surely, Haruka thought the same, which was why she hadn't done more so far than make a few flirtatious remarks and stare at her when she thought she wasn't noticing.

_That doesn't mean she feels the same, though, _Michiru reminded herself of that not unimportant fact, _you've seen today that she's not stingy with flirtatious remarks, and looking at you, well… even if she doesn't feel anything, she might still appreciate the sight of nice legs._

With another sigh, she rolled over, so she could look out the window, staring out into the night sky; and then, she just laid there, unable to go back to sleep, her mind circling around Haruka, the feelings she had for her and what those feelings might mean for the mission they shared.

* * *

In her dream, she was the wolf, and this reminded her of the coming full moon, of the chance to take on this form and just run, run and hunt, let her instincts guide her and lead her through the nightly forest, filled with the exhilarating joy this always brought her, to all of her kind.

She was running in her dream already, through the woods, feeling the grass and earth beneath her paws; a gust of wind brought the scent of deer, and she sped up with ease, having so much strength and stamina to rely on.

Then, another scent hit her nostrils, one so familiar and lovely that it made her change direction immediately, the deer forgotten the very moment this new smell had reached her; she hadn't known it for long, but would recognize it anywhere, amongst millions of people and especially out here, in this forest where no human ever went.

If her wolf form had been capable of it, she would have smiled as she ran, closer and closer to the scent; the urge to smile vanished into nothingness moments later though, as another scent hit her, one she knew well, a red scent, one which made her heart beat faster and sent a spike of adrenaline through her system.

_Michiru, _her instincts screamed at her, and she ran, as fast as she could now, all other scents blocked out, fully focused on the smell of Michiru and the smell of blood; and not too long after, a flash of turquoise caught her eyes up ahead, her heart cramping up in fear as she raced to it, coming to an abrupt halt when she spotted her friend at last, on the ground flat on her back – and there was blood everywhere, so much of it that it was impossible for her to tell where it was coming from, where Michiru had been injured.

She wanted to cry out her name, ask her if she was alright; her current form allowed none of this though, and when she tried to change back to human, she found to her horror that she couldn't, that she was stuck like this, her body simply refusing to obey the command she was giving it to shift back, fear now rushing through her as she asked herself what this meant, why she couldn't change back, why she couldn't help Michiru, the woman who meant so much to her…

With a mixture of growl and short cry, Haruka snapped out of the nightmare, breathing heavily as she laid perfectly still in her bed; closing her eyes again, she told herself that it had been just a dream, an exceptionally bad one, that nothing had happened to Michiru and that she was perfectly fine.

Belatedly, she realized that she could see better in the dark bedroom than she was supposed to be, and she frowned before reaching up to her face; to her surprise, even slight shock, she found coarse hair covering the skin there, and a quick movement to her teeth confirmed that they had changed, as well, the fact that she had shifted while fast asleep telling her how much the dream had shaken her up.

Closing her eyes again, she focused, on the breathing techniques her father had taught her for these situations; the involuntary change during sleep hadn't happened to her for almost a decade, but she still remembered well how to get it under control again, and not even two minutes later, the hair vanished from her face and a sharp twinge went through her jaw, telling her that her teeth had gone back to normal again, as well.

Now that her sight was reduced to that of a regular human, she had to turn on the lamp on her nightstand to check her blanket and mattress; at least, as she found to her satisfaction, she hadn't torn any of it up this time, something which had happened quite a few times when she had been little and hadn't been able to control the change during a nightmare, the claws her finger- and toenails turned into during it often ripping apart her bed.

_Make sure Michiru's alright. _The thought had come pretty much out of nowhere, and for a scary second, Haruka wasn't even sure it had been her own; then, she pushed those worries aside, telling herself that now, it surely wasn't the time to go crazy and that a simple nightmare didn't justify calling Michiru in the middle of the night and most likely waking her up.

Still, the nagging voice in the back of her mind wouldn't stop telling her to make sure that Michiru was fine, that maybe, her nightmare hadn't been just that, but a warning, sent by the same fate which had led to her fighting by the smaller woman's side; and finally, she gave in to it, telling herself that surely, her friend would understand as she snatched up her cell phone and pushed the fast-dial button for Michiru's number, her heart suddenly hammering in her chest as she held the device to her ear and waited for the other woman to take the call.

"Haruka?" Michiru did just that after the second ring, sounding surprisingly awake and aware, considering the time, "why are you calling so late? Is everything alright?"

"Yes", Haruka gave back after a moment's pause, now feeling quite stupid for actually calling her, "are you alright, too?"

"Yes, why wouldn't I be?" Michiru wanted to know, confused, momentarily wondering if this had something to do with her reaction to the blonde's flirting the previous afternoon; before she could ask about it though, the werewolf already went on, clarifying the reason for her call and making her smile slightly as she listened.

"This is gonna sound really dumb", the blonde told her with a sigh, feeling even more stupid now that she had reached Michiru and had confirmation that she was perfectly fine, "but I had this really realistic, really creepy dream, in which you got dreadfully hurt. It was so bad, I had changed a bit by the time I woke up. So I wanted to make sure you're okay, I'm sorry if I woke you up…"

"You didn't", Michiru reassured her, "I had trouble sleeping as well. And no worries, I don't think this is dumb, I've had my share of bad dreams and seeing how apparently, we are connected by fate, it is no surprise that now, you are getting them too."

"You had one too tonight, then?" Haruka wanted to know, "is this why you're up so late?"

"…yes", Michiru lied after a second of hesitation, realizing she couldn't tell her friend the real reason for why she was awake at this time of the night, "seems like we got them the same night, this time."

"Maybe just our connection growing stronger", the blonde mused out loud, unaware of how her words made Michiru flinch at her end of the line, the smaller woman guiltily thinking of the kind of connection she wanted with her, "well, I guess that's a good thing, cause it means I didn't wake you up in the middle of the night."

"I wouldn't have minded if you had", Michiru reassured her, "but we both should get some sleep now, there might be another attack tomorrow and we should both be well rested for that."

"You're right", Haruka agreed, "well… sleep well, then. Call me in case anything comes up."

"Will do", Michiru reassured her, "and the same to you."

Smiling, Haruka ended the call after they had said their goodbyes, then laid back down, putting her phone back onto the nightstand; she felt much better now that she knew Michiru was safe and sound in her own bed, quickly drifting off into sleep again, not allowing herself to realize how good it had made her feel to hear the smaller woman's voice, if only for a few minutes.


	17. Chapter 17

To the surprise of both Haruka and Michiru, no attacks happened during the next few days, making them both wonder if Kaorinite and whoever else was working with her had given up on their plans; Michiru was doubtful about this, but decided to enjoy that peace as long as it lasted, after all the battles they had fought together since Haruka had joined her.

"It's a good thing that woman's been laying low for a while", the blonde commented as they had yet another lunch together, in a small and comfortable café this time, "it's a full moon tonight, so…"

"…you'll go running?" Michiru finished for her, carefully avoiding anything which might give away Haruka's nature to the people around them, "in the woods? You mentioned you enjoyed this before."

"Yes", Haruka confirmed, "the whole… group goes together, I might run into them. I'd take you along, I imagine you could easily keep up after changing, but the group might object to that and I think it'd be rather boring for you."

"Probably", Michiru gave back with a slight smile, "it must be quite the experience, but I think people like me can't really share it."

"Which is too bad", Haruka sighed, her next words causing the other woman's smile to widen, "I'd love to share it with you. It's hard to explain, but… the freedom, the strength… it's exhilarating."

"You'll just have to tell me all about how it was once you're back", Michiru gave back, oddly touched by the blonde's words, her willingness to share something which was so specific to her kind with someone who wasn't part of them, "so I'll at least experience it second-hand."

"Gladly", Haruka smiled, taking a sip of her drink before she went on, "and I promise I won't get completely lost in… doing that, I'll keep my mind open just in case anything happens."

"They rarely strike at night", Michiru shrugged in response, "so I'm not worried about that. The latest they hit was at that concert, and that was evening. I guess you'll just get to enjoy your run and they'll hit again in the next days, if they didn't give it up at all."

"What if they did", Haruka wanted to know, frowning, "what would that mean for our… job?"

"I'm not sure", Michiru had to admit, toying with her glass absent-mindedly, "our mission is to find these things before they do. But so far, we have no way to… get the crystals, the plan was to see if the other group find one and then take it from them, make sure they don't get their hands on it. If they stopped though, there's no more danger, so…"

"So it might just be over", Haruka finished for her, not sure what to think about that – on one hand, it'd mean no more danger for the world, but on the other hand, if there was no more mission, there also wasn't any more reason for Michiru and her to spend time together, the thought that the smaller woman might just vanish from her life paining her more than she had expected.

"It might be", Michiru gave back, keeping her tone carefully neutral, "but… it wouldn't mean that our friendship would be over, too. I mean, we are friends, right?"

"Yes", Haruka reassured her at once, unable to keep the immense relief out of her voice at this unspoken promise that, even if their task might be over, their friendship wouldn't be, "of course we are."

She smiled at the other woman, then reached over the table to briefly touch her hand; and this time, the contact brought the scent of roses up again, making both of them smile now, the world around them momentarily forgotten as all they focused on was each other.

* * *

The full moon was bright in the sky, illuminating the area around her enough to let her see even before she changed; smiling to herself in anticipation, Haruka glanced around, knowing how unlikely it was that someone who was not a werewolf was in the forest at this time of the night, but not taking any risks either, her father having told her so often that she always had to make sure that by now, it was something she didn't even think about consciously anymore.

Finally convinced that no one was around who might see her, Haruka hurriedly pulled off her clothes, hiding the bundle she'd made of them in the nearest bush before she closed her eyes and took in a deep breath, lowering herself on all fours as the change began; and thanks to the power of the full moon, it took neither much time, nor energy, her body shifting with ease, a satisfied growl coming from her the moment it was done and she had gone full wolf.

Momentarily, she wished that Michiru could see her now, and asked herself what her friend might think – she knew that she was a magnificent sight, much bigger than a regular wolf, lean, but strong, with thick fur the sandy colour of her hair, her eyes briefly flashing with a bright yellow before the glow vanished, making sure she wouldn't be spotted from a mile away in the dark forest.

Standing still for a while, she focused on the scents around her, knowing that the rest of her pack was in these woods as well; at the moment though, they were too far away from her to let her sniff them out, and thus, she just concentrated on the other smells all around her, then started to run, the sheer joy she felt as she did so speeding up her heart and making her feel so thoroughly happy that, as always during the first few minutes of the change into full wolf, she wished it could always be this way.

Then, Haruka remembered the warnings her father had given her about just this, about how some wolves with weaker minds and self-control got too lost in the feeling and never found their way back, losing their humanity to their wolf; it didn't happen often, hadn't happened to her pack in decades, but they all knew that the danger of it was there, and thus, she forced those feelings aside, telling herself that now, the hunt was all that mattered.

Stopping her run, she stood perfectly still again, focusing on the scents once more; she expected the smell of trees and leaves and earth, perhaps a rabbit or even a deer if she got lucky, but what she found instead was a scent so alien to the forest that it startled her, her eyes widening and a low growl she didn't even fully notice ripping free from her throat.

As if the noise had been some sort of signal, the noise level around her increased, twigs breaking and leaves rustling as something moved towards her; her hackles rose as her body tensed until her muscles were almost thrumming, the sounds growing louder still, until a figure appeared up ahead, the familiar red hair and eyes only making her tense up further, another low growl coming from her as her gaze met the other woman's.

"I'm surprised I found you so quickly", Kaorinite commented, smiling at her, clearly not perturbed the slightest by the size and obvious strength of her wolf form, "I thought it'd take longer to track you."

With her smile widening, she looked around, the lack of care about the fact that she was alone with a large wolf telling Haruka that she had something planned, a suspicion the redhead confirmed moments later, her gaze focusing on the wolf in front of her again, her smile now sardonic as she went on.

"I know you can't talk in this form, but surely you wonder why I'm not scared of you, and what I am doing here", she said, "if I'm targeting you now. Well, I kind of am, but not for your heart crystal. You see, the doctor and I had a long talk about your friend Sailor Neptune and you, and we decided that it is time to take you out, one after the other. And I'm starting with you."

Growling quite loudly now, Haruka got ready to pounce in reply, her mind racing as she calculated the distance between Kaorinite and her, tried to figure out if she could reach her with one leap, with no run-up; before she could try this though, the redhead snapped her fingers, and somewhere behind her, twigs started breaking again as something got moving, the alien scent Haruka still was smelling growing stronger as the thing came closer.

"Surely you were wondering why we were laying low the last few days", Kaorinite told her, her smile turning cruel now, "you'll see just why in a minute. It took us a while to get it right, trial and error, you know how it is. Have fun with your new friend."

As she said the last word, the creature which had been approaching stepped out next to her, and Haruka froze; from the girlish laughter Kaorinite let out, it was obvious that she had noticed the wolf's reaction, her eyes sparking merrily as she waved at her.

"Noticed immediately, did you", she then said, laughing again, "and here you are, all on your own. Well, enjoy your last few minutes, wolf."

With those words, she turned and vanished between the trees, Haruka not paying her any mind though; she kept her focus on the daimon Kaorinite had brought along, her mind racing as she tried to figure out how to handle this, all on her own, just like the redhead had said.

The creature wasn't big, and not very bulky either, rather slim in build, but covered in spikes; it smiled a smile full of razor sharp teeth at her, and she growled in response, moving a few steps back, having to admit that escape was her only option now, that she couldn't fight this thing.

It wasn't the thing's build, or how strong it might be; the spikes made attacking it without hurting herself difficult, but under normal circumstances, her healing would have dealt with that, and would have allowed her to take the thing apart within seconds, with no regard for what it might do to her until it'd perish.

This time though, Kaorinite had been smarter than just bringing a simply spiked creature to fight her; as much as she hated to admit it, Haruka knew that the redhead had outsmarted her this time, catching her out in the woods alone, with no means to contact Michiru or anyone else and ask for help, and sending this creature to take her on – this daimon the mysterious doctor she had mentioned and she had thought up just for her, had created just to get rid of her, and which had made been completely out of silver.


	18. Chapter 18

_Something's wrong. _The thought hit her out of nowhere, startling Michiru out of the slight dose she had fallen into and back to full awareness; she didn't know where it had come from, but just knew that it was correct, the sea calling to her louder than it had for days, sending shivers up and down her spine.

"Haruka", she mumbled to herself, not even sure why she just knew it was her friend who was in danger, but not questioning the knowledge, either – so far, her Senshi abilities had never lied to her about these things, and she had no reason to start doubting them now, her heart suddenly hammering up to her throat as she hurriedly got out of bed and, not even bothering to change out of her pyjama, transformed, her bedroom briefly filled with bright, blue and aqua-coloured light as her power filled her.

Not wasting time on moving to her front door and out the building the regular way, Neptune left through the window instead, glad that it was in the middle of the night and that thus, not many people were around to see her; if anyone did, they didn't call out to her, and she made it down to the sidewalk unchallenged, standing still for a second as she listened to the call of the sea, tried to figure out which way would take her to the forest the fastest.

Using her Senshi strength and stamina, she started running after a few seconds of figuring out the way, rushing through the nightly streets; thanks to how fast she could run without getting out of breath or slowing down, it didn't take her long to reach the outskirts of the city, the edge of the forest up ahead, dark and even a bit threatening, but she didn't let that slow her down, the call of the sea even stronger now, more urgent, telling her about the big danger Haruka was in.

_Shouldn't have let her go alone, _she scolded herself as she kept running, skilfully avoiding any roots and treacherous holes in the ground which might have tripped up a regular person, _not with Kaorinite still out there, she threatened both of you, and now she made her move…_

Just like she simply had known that Haruka was in danger, she knew that this was true, as well, that Kaorinite hadn't been laying low for no reason during the last few days, but that she had been preparing something, an attack on her friend which would be as failsafe as she could make it.

Fear for Haruka's life lent her new strength, and she sped up even further, making sure to breathe evenly as she ran; moments later though, her breath got caught in her throat as an explosion of fire and heat up ahead caught her unaware, causing her to come to an abrupt halt – even though she wanted to keep running and make sure Haruka was alright, it wouldn't be smart to rush straight into a battle which apparently involved fiery attacks like the one she just had seen.

Making sure to keep down any noise her feet might make on the forest floor, and cursing the high heels which came with her Senshi outfit, since they made this considerable more difficult, Neptune snuck closer to the origin point of the explosion, her eyes going wide as seconds later, she spotted a familiar figure up ahead, another Senshi she recognized as Sailor Mars at a closer look, her brow furrowing as she wondered what the other Senshi was doing there, and why none of her friends were in sight.

Then, something else caught her eye, and all thoughts of Mars were blown out of her mind; a few feet away, a large, shaggy wolf with dark brown fur stood, growling at something just out of sight, but not joining the fight – instead, he was protecting the wolf behind him, Neptune letting out a gasp as more fire illuminated the area and let her recognize the sand-coloured fur of the downed wolf.

Now not caring about her own safety anymore, she started running again, to her friend's side; another, quick look told her that Haruka had been hurt, blood staining the fur at several spots, but she couldn't tell how bad it was, not yet. Only when the wolf in front of her started to growl at her, she remembered him, slowing down again; she raised her hands to reassure the wolf that she was no threat, only to flinch when she heard Sailor Mars call out to her, relief evident in her voice.

"Neptune!" Mars repeated her call when she didn't react at once, "little help here?"

Realizing that taking care of whatever Mars was fighting was more important than making sure Haruka was okay now, Neptune forced herself to look away from her injured friend and focus on the fight; and moments later, she had to admit that Kaorinite had thought this one through as she got a closer look at the daimon. Clearly, the redhead had known, or at least correctly guessed, that Haruka would be in those woods during the full moon, and most likely alone; and, taking her nature into consideration, she had sent a creature made purely of silver, the one thing which could do and had done lasting harm to the blonde.

At least though, the daimon's nature made it rather susceptible to the fire attacks Mars was using; momentarily, Neptune wasn't even sure if adding her own was a smart move, considering that hers was water-based, then the daimon let out a howl and its arm shot forward, sharp spikes flying from the limb and forcing Mars to jump out of the way to avoid getting hit by any of them, and she made her choice, her power gathering around her as she called for it.

"_Deep Submerge!" _She put all her fear for Haruka and all her anger at Kaorinite for doing this to the blonde into her attack, something the creature got to feel as the energy hit it, a pained cry coming from it as the force of impact made it stumble a few steps back.

Taking the chance given by this, Mars hurriedly followed Neptune's example, fire forming around her as she focused her energy into her own attack; and after the blasts the daimon already had taken from her and the attack from Neptune, her shot was enough to take the creature down, a pained final yelp coming from it before it dissolved into nothingness, a harmless, cheap silver ring falling to the ground seconds after Mars' attack had hit.

"Good shot", Neptune complimented her, prompting her to turn and look at her, with slight surprise – after all, the encounters they had had so far had been far from friendly, but from the way Neptune immediately turned away from her afterwards to focus on the downed wolf, it was obvious that said wolf meant something to her, Mars' eyes narrowing as her mind started to puzzle things together.

Before she could say anything though, and before Neptune had the chance to move over to where Haruka still laid motionless, the other wolf let out a frightened whimper, all of a sudden trying to duck down as low as possible; and moments later, both Senshi realized why, as glowing yellow eyes appeared in the darkness all around them, Mars swallowing heavily while Neptune froze in mid-step, not moving a muscle, fresh fear surging through her as she realized that Mars and she had been surrounded completely while they had been focusing on the fight and that the real danger might only start now.

* * *

Just when Neptune started to ask herself how only Mars and she were supposed to handle this mass of enemies, one of them got moving, approaching them so silently that it was eerie; and while he did, he changed shape, a gasp of both relief and delight coming from Neptune when she recognized him as Tatsuo, the fact that he was fully naked skilfully ignored by her, but not by Mars, the black haired Senshi going wide-eyed before she blushed furiously and suddenly found her feet to be very interesting.

"Stay away from her", Tatsuo told Neptune before she could say something, two of his pack already moving to where Haruka still laid motionless, changing back to human as well during the short walk, then kneeling down next to her and checking her over; startled, Neptune glanced from her back at the elder man, just enough of a tremble in her voice to let him notice when she replied.

"I, I'm sorry, if I had known she'd be attacked", she started, suddenly sure that the alpha, the _father _of her friend, was blaming her for what had happened, "I would have come with her, I wouldn't have let her go alone…"

"No", Tatsuo replied, sounding much kinder now, "this is not why… Shoot, you don't know. She never told you, did she."

"Never told me what", Neptune wanted to know, confused; in response, Tatsuo sighed, then made a vague gesture at his daughter, the Senshi only now realizing how calm he seemed despite the fact that his pack and he just had found his daughter hurt God knew how badly.

"She might be dangerous", Tatsuo told her, for the first time showing any emotion by briefly clenching his fists, just long enough to let Neptune notice, "when she wakes up. Getting hit with silver, it just doesn't do lasting harm, it might make her… we call it going loup. All control, all humanity, gone, only the wolf left. We have to take her back to the pack grounds, we are equipped for this there, and we can take care of her there."

"Let me come with you", Neptune pleaded in response, ignoring the way Mars was staring at the whole scene, "please… She means so much to me, I want to make sure she'll be alright, if I had realized that Kaorinite would do this tonight…"

She realized that she was close to rambling and forced herself to shut up; for a few moments, Tatsuo just looked back at her in silence, then gave a curt nod, the two back-to-human pack members who were taking care of Haruka raising eyebrows at this decision, but none of them questioning him, showing her how much in control he was of the pack.

"We need to get moving now though", he then said, "she needs to be treated quickly, if any of the silver got into her system…"

His voice started to tremble at the last few words, and he fell silent, swallowing heavily, for the first time letting on how much what had happened to his daughter really hit him; not wanting to prolong this torment for him, Neptune just nodded, then briefly glanced at Mars, somehow managing to keep her voice steady when she addressed the other soldier. "Thanks for helping her. It means a lot to me and I won't forget it."

"Welcome", Mars gave back, still staring at her shoes; under any other circumstances, Neptune would have smiled, but with the situation so dire, she couldn't find it within herself, merely giving the other Senshi a brief, final nod before she focused on Tatsuo again, the Alpha turning to the men taking care of Haruka in response, the two reacting by carefully picking her up on their arms, the whole group vanishing into the darkness afterwards, none of them as much as glancing at the one wolf they left behind.

"Well, Yuuichirou", Mars mumbled after having watched them go, moving over to him, "so much for your theory that nothing's gonna happen during a short run in the woods. Next month, it's the temple grounds for you again."

In response, Yuuichirou let out a little whine, then finally got up from his crouched position, shaking himself; ignoring him for now, Mars looked at the spot where Haruka had gone down, just as Yuuichirou and she had happened to find the fight, a thoughtful expression on her face as she thought of the girl she last had seen Haruka with and of how remarkably said girl resembled Sailor Neptune, a feeling of unease filling her as she tried to figure out what all of this might mean.


	19. Chapter 19

Even though it still was in the middle of the night, Michiru found herself unable to even think of sleep as she sat in the living room of the Tenoh family's house; it hadn't taken long for them to reach the small settlement of the pack, and immediately, Haruka had been rushed off to the house of the pack doctor, her parents and Michiru now sitting and waiting anxiously to be told how bad it was.

"That woman has to be taken down", Tatsuo finally broke the silence, making both Ramika and Michiru look at him, "no matter what she's after, and why, she's attacked one of mine, and I don't let that pass. We'll find her, and we'll take her down."

"We need to be careful though", Ramika gave back, surprising Michiru – somehow, she had been sure that the alpha's wife would try to convince him that this wasn't a good idea, and wouldn't just go along with this immediately. "You saw what she did to Haruka. She has no qualms about hurting us, and using the dirtiest tricks available. Sending this thing after her, made of silver…"

"We will be careful", Tatsuo agreed, then noticed Michiru's surprised look and smiled weakly, the determination and steel still in his voice as he answered her unspoken question. "She hurt Haruka. One of the pack, and our _daughter_. That doesn't go unpunished. As the alpha, it's up to me to protect my wolves, and anyone who dares to harm them…"

"They're in for a world of hurt", Ramika finished for him, giving him a fond look which scared Michiru a bit, considering the fact that the topic of their talk was taking bloody vengeance on the woman who had dared to attack their daughter.

"We send our children to public school", Ramika now went on, confusing Michiru even further as she had no idea what this had to do with the topic at hand, "so they learn how to deal with regular humans, how to hide the wolf. Surely you noticed by now that people realize something is off about us anyway and keep their distance?"

"Yes", the younger woman confirmed, still wondering why Ramika was telling her this, but now curious to find out, the elder woman satisfying that curiousness moments later.

"Even without the wolf, Haruka would have stood out there", she went on, Tatsuo reaching over and grasping her hand, "with… just who she is. Her looks, her whole demeanour… here in the pack, she never had to make a secret of her preferences, and didn't think she had to at school, either. Most people didn't mind, or simply didn't care, but of course there was a group who attacked her for it, and bullied her for it."

"Until you put an end to that", Michiru finally put the pieces together, swallowing, suddenly glad that Tatsuo hadn't blamed her for what happened to Haruka, not wanting to imagine what he might have done to her, then.

"We didn't hurt them, or kill them", Tatsuo hurried to reassure her, having noticed how nervous and tense she suddenly had become, "we just paid them a visit. At night, partly shifted, the form you first saw from Haruka. They didn't bother her anymore after that."

"This is what we do to bullies who insult and threaten members of the pack", Ramika took over again, making Michiru look at her, "you might be able to imagine what we do to someone who actually harms one of us. And the reason why we are telling you this is to show you that we mean it, that this is not just angry talk of worried parents. You are welcome to help us with this, but we will not let it happen that you'll try to stand in our way."

"I won't", Michiru replied at once, making Ramika smile slightly, a satisfied and cold smile, "and I'll help you in any way I can."

"That's good to know", Tatsuo smiled, "and it is good to know that Haruka has a friend like you."

"Who got her into this mess in the first place", Michiru replied with a sigh, "Kaorinite never would have sent this daimon after her if she hadn't been helping me so much…"

"As you said, that might have been destiny", Tatsuo replied, exchanging a look with his wife Michiru didn't miss; before she could ponder this further though, or maybe even ask if they knew more about this than they were letting on, a knock came from the front door, and a second later, Ramika had jumped up and was hurrying out of the room, Tatsuo looking as if he wanted to run after her, but forced himself to stay where he was, not wanting to leave Michiru sitting there alone.

Thanks to the layout of the house and the distance between the living room and the front door, Michiru only heard Ramika and another female talking, but found herself unable to make out the words; when the elder woman came back into the room though, with a woman her age in tow, one look at her face was enough to tell her that something was dreadfully wrong, and she had gotten up from her seat before she even realized that she was moving.

"What is it", she demanded to know, the way Ramika swallowed heavily in response only increasing her fears, "what happened? What's wrong with Haruka?"

"The damage was more severe than we thought", the woman, presumably the pack's doctor, replied, once it became apparent that Ramika was struggling to hold back tears and thus couldn't answer, Tatsuo getting up from his seat as well now and clenching his fists, only to have his shoulders slump at what the doctor said next. "We tried everything, you know we did, Tatsuo, but… there was too much silver, and not enough time. I'm so sorry, but… Haruka's gone loup."

* * *

At hearing it out loud for the second time, Ramika's carefully constructed self-control broke, and she quietly started to sob; Tatsuo sank back onto the couch with a numb, detached expression on his face, and all at once, Michiru felt awkward and out of place, wishing to comfort both of them, but not knowing what to say.

"There's something you can do, right", she finally broke the uncomfortable silence, only interrupted every now and then by Ramika's quiet sobs; looking at her as if she was noticing her for the first time, the doctor held her gaze for a few seconds, then shook her head, the mere gesture being enough to break Michiru's heart.

"There's no going back", she then said, as if to make sure to get the point across, "once a wolf has gone loup, there's nothing we can do."

Not sure what to respond to this, Michiru just looked back at the doctor, now close to tears as well; the elder woman gave her a sympathetic look, then focused on Tatsuo, her voice deliberately calm and controlled when she spoke on. "Tatsuo… Alpha… I know you don't want to speak of this now, but you know the whole pack is in danger now. You know what we have to do…"

"Yes", Tatsuo replied, his voice hoarse, "but… She's my _daughter_…"

"What", Michiru brought out, shocked as she realized what the doctor was talking about, "you're not talking about killing her, are you? Tatsuo!"

"There is nothing else we can do", Tatsuo replied, while Ramika only cried harder, "as Hitomi said, once a wolf goes loup, it's over… She's a danger now, to herself and the pack, we have to…"

"No!" Michiru interrupted him, terrified, "you can't be serious! She's your daughter! And you'll just let this woman kill her?!"

"We have no choice", the doctor was the one to answer, with a tremble in her voice now as well, "I know you are not one of us, and I know how this must seem to you, but…"

"No", Michiru snapped once more, "I will not stand here and listen to you talk about how you're going to kill her, she's my friend and I… She means so much to me! I will not let this happen!"

And with the final words, before anyone could say anything else, she had pushed past Hitomi and was hurrying to the front door; she heard Tatsuo call out after her, but ignored him, rushing out of the house instead, letting her instincts guide her once she was outside, the pull she'd always felt towards Haruka, from the moment on she first had laid eyes on her, guiding her steps with ease.

"Michiru!" she heard Tatsuo somewhere behind herself, easily ignored him though, only speeding up further – she knew that he could outrun her, should he really put his mind to it, and that she had to reach Haruka before he could stop her, once more grateful for her Senshi strength and stamina as she ran, towards a house in the middle of the settlement.

To her relief, the door was unlocked, and already when she stepped inside, she heard the angry growls from downstairs; Tatsuo yelled for her again, but still she didn't react, making her way into the basement without even glancing back. The growls were loud enough to make finding their source easy, and once she stepped into the room they were coming from, her heart skipped a beat; in the middle of said room, a solid-looking iron cage had been put up, and in said cage, Haruka stood still in full wolf form, a bloodied bandage wrapped around her middle and one of her hind legs, but if she was in any pain from the injuries, she either didn't show or care, her head snapping around to focus on Michiru as she entered, another growl ripping free from her throat.

"Haruka", Michiru started, stepping closer to the cage, earning another loud growl, the wolf's hackles rising visibly; behind her, the door flew open again as Tatsuo came barging into the room, then he stopped on the spot, sounding just afraid enough to let the younger woman hear when he spoke up.

"Michiru", he started, not deterred by the fact that she didn't even look at him, "step back. Slowly. No fast movements. I know this is hard to believe, to accept, but this is not Haruka anymore, this is a wild wolf, and dangerous. The cage might not hold, should she really try to break free. Come back here!"

"No", Michiru replied, turning now to look at him, "there has to be something we can do, I will not stand by and let you kill her! She's still in there somewhere, I know it, and so help me God, if you try to get me out of here, I'll transform and show you what a Senshi can do!"

"You think I want this?" Tatsuo nearly yelled at her in response, so focused on her now that he didn't even notice Haruka slamming her body against the cage bars, something Michiru missed as well since she now had her back to said cage, "she's my _daughter_! If there was anything we could do, anything, I'd do it, but there's not! In all the centuries our kind has existed, no wolf who ever has gone loup has been brought back!"

"She'll be the first, then", Michiru replied, unimpressed, "I will find a way, I will not let you kill her!"

Another growl came from behind her, and she started to turn back again, that last one having sounded louder and even more aggressive than the previous ones; and just as she was facing Haruka again, the wolf threw herself against the cage once more, and it simply fell apart, as if it had been hit by a force much greater than a simple body, a startled cry coming from Michiru as the wolf pounced her and threw her down, flat on her back.

"Oh God!" she heard Tatsuo cry out behind her, then he was forgotten as she grabbed the thick fur at Haruka's throat with both hands and pushed her back, earning more growls in reply; and only now, she was forced to admit that Tatsuo had been right, that there was nothing left of her friend in this wolf, the yellow eyes empty of any human emotion, only filled with feral anger and the need to hurt and kill, making her realize in what danger she was in and that she had no way to get out of it.


	20. Chapter 20

Author's Note: So I was planning to update on Monday, which would have been my regular schedule, but then realized (also thanks to you guys ;)) that the cliffhanger I left you with was quite evil, so here we go a bit earlier ;) enjoy!

* * *

"Haruka!" Michiru cried out as she kept pushing upwards, trying hard to keep the wolf's jaws away from her face, her throat, "please! I know you're still in there, somewhere, please, you have to come back to me!"

"Get the others!" she heard Tatsuo yell behind her, up the stairs, "now, she's gotten out, she'll kill Michiru, _hurry_!"

"Haruka", Michiru tried again, "you're not gonna do this to me, are you, you're not gonna just leave me like that! You know how happy I was I didn't need to do this alone anymore, that I had you to help me… That you're my friend, my partner in all of this, and my partner in every sense of the word, if you want it… I know I didn't tell you, not yet, but this is what I feel for you, so please come back so we can share this… Please, Haruka…"

Haruka growled at her again in reply, and even though her arms were growing tired, it seemed to Michiru as if she was trying less hard to get at her throat; frantically, she kept on talking, telling her again and again how much she meant to her, how much she wanted to be with her, especially once they had finished their mission, together, and how much she hoped that Haruka felt the same.

And then, just as a bunch of men and women came rushing down the stairs, armed with a net and tranquilizer guns, Haruka stopped struggling against her grip, and grew perfectly still; one of the men raised his tranquilizer gun, took careful aim, but before he could pull the trigger, a bright, golden light suddenly filled the room, causing them all to cry out in surprise as they flinched back and shielded their eyes.

Thus, Michiru was sure that only she saw where the light was coming from, the symbol for the planet Uranus glowing so brightly between the wolf's eyes; it just was there for a few seconds, just long enough to let her recognize it, then it faded away again, taking the light with it – and Haruka slumped down on top of her, letting out a pitiful whimper while the men and women all slowly dared to look again, astounded at how calm the wolf suddenly had become.

"Haruka", Michiru whispered, gently stroking the fur now instead of pushing against her, "show them you're back. Change back, I know you're hurting and tired, but you have to change back. You can do it…"

After a few seconds, the wolf reacted to her words, painstakingly slow coming to her feet again; she moved back from Michiru, the pack members just watching in astonishment, a low gasp coming from Tatsuo as his daughter began the change back, his eyes going wide in disbelief – in all the recorded history of their kin, there never had been an instant of a wolf going loup and then recovering from it, not once in hundreds of years, and still this was what Haruka was doing, as she proved by simply returning to her human form.

The change took longer than it would have under normal circumstances, but it happened, with no unexpected developments in between; and half a minute after she had moved away from Michiru, Haruka was back to human, still on all fours, the bandages now hanging loosely from her body as much of the wolf's bulk was gone, her breathing heavy and laboured, pain in her eyes when she raised her head and looked at the smaller woman, but none of the feral beast Michiru had seen there minutes ago.

"Jesus Christ", she heard Tatsuo whisper behind her, but paid him no mind, fully focused on Haruka; she got moving just as the blonde started to slump forward, reaching and catching her in the last possible moment, successfully keeping her from falling onto the stone floor and perhaps injuring herself even further.

"Hitomi!" she heard Tatsuo yell behind her, the other members of the pack making room for him automatically as he turned to the stairs, "get down here, now!"

Without bothering to see if the doctor was following his order, he rushed to where Michiru was now cradling his daughter in her arms, a fine sheen of sweat glistening on Haruka's pale face, the injuries the daimon had inflicted on her in gruesome full view, with the bandages having lost their hold on her when she had changed back; he saw none of it though, focused fully on the Senshi, his voice trembling as he said her name.

"Is she", he started the second she was looking at him, then fell silent as a thick lump in his throat suddenly kept him from speaking on; looking up at him at last, Michiru simply nodded, and a second later, she found herself pulled into an almost uncomfortably tight hug by the elder man, the alpha somehow managing to hold both Haruka and her in the embrace while his body started to shake with harsh, but almost perfectly quiet sobs, his overwhelming relief bringing tears to Michiru's eyes as well as she fully realized that he had been sure he'd lose his daughter before the sun would rise again.

* * *

"I… we… can't thank you enough for what you did", Tatsuo told Michiru half an hour later, having regained his calm; after his brief breakdown had been handled, Hitomi had taken Haruka back upstairs, to her doctor's practice, to check on her injuries and bandage her up again, and Tatsuo and Michiru had returned to the Tenoh house, sitting in the living room again now, Ramika having served them tea and now just looking at Michiru, as if she was seeing her for the first time.

"You have to understand the magnitude of what you did", Tatsuo went on, for the first time getting a reaction from his wife, namely an enthusiastic nod, "our kind has records, going back centuries, and during all that time, no wolf who'd gone loup has been brought back from it. Not one. It's been considered impossible, until now."

"I'm not sure I could… do it again", Michiru gave back, suddenly worried and a bit terrified at the thought that Tatsuo now might see her as some kind as miracle worker, capable of bringing any wolf back from their wild side, "I think it was caused by… the bond between Haruka and me."

She didn't mention the symbol she had seen glowing between the blonde's eyes, not sure if Tatsuo had noticed it and not wanting to answer any awkward questions, even though the pack knew about her, most of them having seen her in both her civilian and her Senshi form by now.

"You love her", Ramika finally said something for the first time, her blunt statement causing Michiru's eyes to widen, "and she has to feel something for you, too, or you couldn't have brought her back."

"I don't know if she feels anything for me", Michiru gave the answer which allowed her to stall about her own feelings the longest, "we… haven't spoken about this. We're friends."

"If she remembers what you said to her when you brought her back, there'll be no need to talk about it", Tatsuo pointed out, "and if she doesn't, and I really can't tell if she will or won't, you should tell her. We'd be honoured if you'd become our daughter's partner."

"Um", Michiru replied, not sure what else she could say – this had come quite out of the left field, the talk having taken a direction she hadn't expected at all, "well… as I said, I don't know what Haruka feels. But… thank you."

"No worries about her feelings", Ramika gave back with a little wave of her hand, "your words, your _voice_, was what brought her back from being loup, and I've noticed the way she looks at you."

"Um", the younger woman repeated, now fully at a loss for words; finally realizing that clearly, Michiru wasn't used to the open way the pack spoke of those things, Ramika blushed, then cleared her throat, changing the topic not very subtly, but successfully by telling her husband to get the guestroom ready, pointing out that Michiru looked awfully tired.

"All this excitement", she then added, while the Senshi shot her a grateful look, "we can all use some rest now."

"Yes, of course", Tatsuo agreed at once, getting up from his seat, "I should have thought of this sooner, my apologies. I'll get the guestroom ready for you, Michiru, our house is your house, you're welcome to stay here as long as you wish to."

"Thank you", Michiru gave back, honestly grateful – even though Haruka was back to normal at least where her mind was concerned, one look at her had been enough to tell her that she still was gravely injured, and she didn't want to leave before knowing for sure she'd be alright.

Smiling at her, and nodding briefly, as if he had read those thoughts right off her face, Tatsuo reached out to touch her shoulder for a moment; then, he turned and hurried off to the guestroom, and the second he was out of sight, Ramika stepped up to Michiru and hugged her tight, a tremble running through her body as she suddenly had to fight against the tears threatening to overwhelm her.

"Thank you", she whispered into Michiru's ear while the smaller woman awkwardly returned the hug – her family wasn't big on physical contact, and this was the second time in less than an hour that she was pulled in such a tight embrace, Haruka's family having given her more hugs in under sixty minutes than her own in the last year.

"As Tatsuo said, we can't thank you enough for what you did", Ramika told her, pulling back from the hug, her hands still on Michiru's upper arms though, "when Hitomi told us Haruka'd gone loup, I was sure we'd lost her. But you brought her back… you gave us our daughter back. Thank you."

"Welcome", Michiru replied with the only thing she could think of, feeling seriously awkward now; realizing how uncomfortable was, Ramika let go of her fully at last, composed and calm again when she told her that, should she need anything during the night, she could just wake them up and ask.

"The bathroom's just down the hall, last door on the right", she then added, "oh, and if you hear howling in the middle of the night, don't be alarmed. By now, news of Haruka getting better surely have spread through the whole pack – they gossip worse than fishwives sometimes, I swear – and I imagine they might want to celebrate with another run, as long as the full moon lasts."

"No problem", Michiru reassured her, smiling slightly again now; Ramika smiled back at her, and just then, Tatsuo returned to the room, letting the two women know that the guestroom was ready; to Michiru's unpleasantness, they both thanked her again before the alpha showed her to the room and wished her a good night, gently closing the door behind himself as he left her alone.

Not bothering to undress, Michiru laid down fully clothed, convinced that it'd take her ages to fall asleep, after all the excitement of the day and night; not even a minute later though, she was sleeping so deeply she was almost out cold, her slumber undisturbed by nightmares and the howling of the wolves outside.


	21. Chapter 21

When Michiru awoke, it was almost noon of the next day, and she was briefly surprised at how long Ramika and Tatsuo had let her sleep without intervening; then, she realized that waking her up surely would have been considered impolite by the two, and that after how long they had been awake the previous night, her body had needed all the rest she had given it, feeling refreshed and relaxed.

At least, she felt that way for a minute or two, then she realized a few things at once – one, that she had no idea how Haruka was now, after how she had gone down the previous night, and two, after sleeping her clothes, they felt stiff and grimy against her skin, a grimace forming on her face as she now regretted not taking them off before going to sleep.

_Surely Ramika can lend you something, _she then told herself as she got out of bed, stretching, _if only to get rid of the smell._

She didn't stink yet, a quick sniff told her, her nose at least not detecting any unpleasant smells; as she knew from Haruka though, werewolves had much more sensitive noses, and the last thing she wanted after how kind Haruka's parents had been with her was to offend them by stinking up their home.

Running both hands through her hair, Michiru made her way downstairs, to where she heard noise from what she assumed to be the kitchen; the assumption turned out to be correct, Tatsuo greeting her merrily as she entered, gesturing at the coffee machine and the shockingly high stack of pancakes on the table.

"Good morning", he then said, "feel free to eat as much as you want, I went a bit overboard with the cooking, I tend to do that when I'm happy. Ramika told me to tell you that you can wear whatever fits from her wardrobe, she's with Haruka right now, over at Hitomi's house."

"Thank you", Michiru gave back, a bit overwhelmed by this flood of words – clearly, cooking wasn't the only thing Tatsuo went overboard with when happy, something he noticed as well, since he smiled bashfully, then apologized, even blushing as he went on. "And here I am, rattling away about nothing important while you surely just want to get out of here so you can see Haruka. Am I right?"

"Well, yes", Michiru admitted, figuring that denying it would be of no use, not after what she had said to Haruka the previous evening, right in front of her father, "but first, some breakfast would be nice, and a shower, too. Also, I don't want to intrude if Ramika is with her right now…"

"You wouldn't be intruding", Tatsuo reassured her, "no worries there. In fact, I believe Haruka would be very happy to see you, Ramika called before you woke up and told me that she's awake and aware. Bit tired and woozy, but it's not bad, and she'll recover."

"That's good to know", Michiru gave back with a small sigh of relief, "thank you. I better have a shower now then and find something to wear, I really want to see her…"

Nodding, Tatsuo gave her another smile, then told her where she could find Ramika's wardrobe and the bathroom; thanking him, Michiru made her way to the couple's bedroom first to find fresh clothes, then moved on the bathroom, unable to keep the smile off her face as she already looked forward to seeing Haruka, feeling immensely relieved now that she knew for sure the blonde would be alright.

* * *

Already upon entering the room, Michiru saw that Tatsuo's description of Haruka being "a bit tired" had been a major understatement – the blonde looked as if she hadn't slept for days, pale and with dark rings beneath her eyes, but still she managed a smile when Michiru entered, the smaller woman immediately smiling back at her.

"Michiru", Ramika greeted her, delight in her voice, "how nice to see you. And I see you found something to wear."

"Poor you", Haruka rasped, in a voice even lower and hoarser than usual, "shouldn't have put on her clothes. She's gonna make you her shopping buddy now."

"I can imagine worse fates", Michiru gave back, while Ramika shot her daughter a not all too serious glare, then told her that being bedridden and injured was no excuse to make fun of her; then, she got up from her seat and excused herself, giving Michiru a small smile and wink as she passed her, something which went unnoticed by the blonde, her gaze fixed on Michiru now.

"Mom told me what you did", she then said, her tone suddenly awfully serious, the smile gone from her face, "about how you got into the cage room after I'd gone loup."

"That might have been stupid", Michiru had to admit, suddenly afraid as her friend just kept looking at her, her whole expression now unreadable, "but it was the only thing I could think of, they wanted to kill you and I couldn't just let that happen…"

Swallowing heavily, she moved closer to the bed, her heart hammering in her chest when Haruka still didn't respond in any way; eager to break the silence, she spoke on, unable to keep the tremble out of her voice now.

"I know it was dangerous", she told the blonde, "but I also knew you'd never hurt me… and I couldn't risk to lose you, not so shortly after finding you."

"It was dangerous", Haruka finally said something, still with that carefully guarded tone which showed none of her emotions, "and, as you said, yes, it was a bit stupid."

She fell silent again, and Michiru fought the urge to fidget; feeling nervous and strangely helpless now, she forced herself not to ramble on while Haruka took in a deep breath – and then she smiled, her features softening from one second to the next, her voice full of warmth and perhaps something more when she broke the silence once more. "It also was amazing, and the greatest thing anyone has ever done for me. I owe you my life. Thank you."

"I guess we're even now", Michiru replied, feeling so ridiculously relieved that it nearly took her breath away, simultaneously chiding herself for honestly believing that Haruka had been mad at her after what she had done, "you saved my life when we first met…"

"But you've done more than just save my life", Haruka gave back, reaching out with one hand and grasping the smaller woman's, "you… Christ, I don't even know how to describe this. It's like… I was lost in this darkness, and you found me, and showed me the light again."

This was so unexpectedly poetic that it stunned Michiru into silence, and all she could do was smile; Haruka smiled back at her, her eyes sparkling, only to break the mood seconds later as she let out a low groan, her free hand moving to her side, reminding Michiru of the fact that she still was rather badly hurt.

"Oh no", Michiru said, inwardly scolding herself again for letting her friend talk so much when she was obviously still exhausted and in pain, "you're supposed to get some rest and here I am, keeping you awake and talking instead of letting you sleep. I'm sorry…"

"Don't be", Haruka gave back immediately, with a roll of her eyes which made Michiru giggle, "I'll get enough rest during the next few days. Hitomi said it should heal up fine now, but it'll take longer than usual, thanks to the daimon. Stupid Kaorinite bitch."

"And just a minute ago, you were so poetic", Michiru teased, earning a low snort from the blonde; she giggled again, then squeezed her hand as her expression softened, her voice tender when she went on. "Seriously though, I'm glad you'll be alright. I got so scared when I got to the woods and found you there, and then when Hitomi said you'd gone loup…"

"I'm sure you know this by now", Haruka mumbled, to the smaller woman's delight not pulling her hand back, but letting her hold it, "but no wolf has ever come back from this. I'm the first, ever, and it's all thanks to you."

"I'm not sure it was just me", Michiru finally admitted what she had been thinking ever since she had been thanked for the first time for what she had done, "I don't think anyone but me saw it, and I didn't mention this to your parents, but… When you were right on top of me, when I was talking to you and trying to… get you back, this bright light appeared… and a symbol."

"A symbol", Haruka echoed, frowning, "what kind of symbol?"

"Planetary", Michiru told her, absurdly relieved about finally being able to tell someone about this, "if I'm not mistaken, the symbol for Uranus. I think… Haruka, I think you were meant to be a Senshi, as well, and this power somehow was what brought you back."

"Huh", the blonde let out in reply, not all too smart, but not sure what else she could say, "okay, so why didn't I get one of those nifty pens then? And a transformation? Because of the wolf? Destiny shouldn't screw up something like that, right?"

"One should think so", Michiru gave back, squeezing her hand yet again, "but it might be because of the wolf, yes. You're already a… magical being, for lack of a better word, as it is, perhaps this would clash with the Senshi magic. I don't know, I'm just guessing, but it seems to make sense in a strange and weird sort of way."

"A magical being, eh", Haruka smirked, with the flirty tone in her voice Michiru knew well by now, "I've gotten many compliments in my time, but this is a first."

Feeling her cheeks heat up, the smaller woman realized that she was blushing, cursing herself for it – Haruka was the only one who could do this to her, get this kind of reaction from her, and if the twinkle in her eyes was anything to go by, the blonde knew it and enjoyed it, a slight smirk curling her lips now as she winked at her.

"You", Michiru told her after clearing her throat, making sure her voice was steady, "are impossible."

Eager to change the topic, she asked the first thing which came to her mind, namely how much Haruka remembered of the time she had gone loup; moments later though, she realized that this had been the worst question she could have asked, feeling her heart clench up when the blonde shrugged, then shook her head, unknowingly forcing a very unpleasant truth on her.

"Nothing, really", the werewolf told her, "I remember going down in the woods after this damned daimon hit me with one of the spikes, and next thing I know is being down in the cage room, in your arms, in pain, and you telling me to change back and that I can do it. Why?"

"…just curious", Michiru gave back, hoping that Haruka wasn't seeing through her lie, "your parents might want to know that, too, seeing you're the first ever to come back from going loup."

"Oh, Dad's gonna ask me a million questions", Haruka groaned, earning slight laughter from Michiru; if the taller woman had noticed that her friend hadn't been fully honest, she didn't mention it, the Senshi doing a remarkably good job about Haruka's words were causing her.

_She doesn't remember, _she numbly thought to herself, somehow managing to keep the smile on her face so Haruka wouldn't notice a thing, _you told her all those things, how you feel, and she doesn't remember…_

"I better let you get some rest now", she told the blonde, her façade still carefully composed, "you're awfully pale, and you look tired. And don't try to tell me now that you're fine, because I can tell you're in pain."

"…you're right", Haruka admitted with a sigh, clearly not all too happy about it, "I really should get some sleep. Doc said it would speed up the healing anyway, so…"

"If your parents are fine with it, I'll stay here until you're well again", Michiru promised her, squeezing her hand once more, her heart clenching up again when Haruka gave her a grateful smile in response; she smiled back at her, then finally let go of her and got up from her seat, telling her to sleep well before she left the room, only letting her true feelings show once she was outside in the hallway and had closed the door behind herself, the smile vanishing from her face within the blink of an eye as she leaned against the wall and hid her face in her hands, asking herself if she'd ever get the courage to tell Haruka all the things she had said to her again.


	22. Chapter 22

"Of course you will stay here", Tatsuo told her half an hour later, in response to her request, "Haruka will want you around, just so she won't die of boredom in that bed, and as long as this woman is still out there, I'm not comfortable with letting you go back to your home alone. She might attack you next, now that her attempt on Haruka failed, and, well, if she does so while you are here with the pack… Let me just say you won't even have to transform to get rid of her."

"Thank you", Michiru gave back with a small sigh, then smiled at him, "it means a lot to me that you're so willing to help us with this. And that you're opening your house to me, of course, you barely know me…"

"You're Haruka's friend, that's enough for me", Tatsuo gave back, then took a closer look at her, the concern in his voice when he went on and asked her if she was alright nearly making her cry, after she had fought so hard to keep her composure; momentarily, she found herself unable to speak, and thus just shook her head, the elder man immediately moving to her side in response and surprising her by putting one arm around her shoulders, his voice now kind when he asked her what was wrong.

"She doesn't remember", Michiru brought out in response, a few tears escaping despite her tries to hold them back and rolling down her cheeks, "I told her all these things, and she remembers nothing of it… and I don't know if I can tell her again… I know what Ramika said, about how she looks at me, but I don't think I can tell her again…"

"There, there", Tatsuo tried to console her in reply, rubbing her back soothingly, but only making her cry harder with his kindness, something she never had experienced in her own family, not like this, "I understand, telling someone about such feelings without knowing if they are returned is terrifying. But Ramika and I, we know her, she's our daughter, and believe me when I tell you, my wife is right."

"Maybe I should just wait until she says something", Michiru murmured as an answer, wiping the tears off her face with one hand, now slightly embarrassed about her outburst, "you, your family, you're so much more at ease when it comes to talking about such things than I am."

"You could do that", Tatsuo agreed, giving her a calming smile, still rubbing her back gently, "a few signals might push her into the right direction. While we are more open with our feelings and affections than the average Japanese person, she still won't say anything out of the blue, she'll want at least a bit of reassurance that you feel something for her before she… makes a move, for lack of a better word."

"I wish my parents were more like Ramika and you", Michiru sighed out without thinking, then fell silent, her eyes widening as she realized what she had revealed – so far, not even Haruka knew about how distant her parents were, how much worse it had gotten ever since she had told them she had no interest in men, and here she was, simply telling this to a man she barely knew.

"You're most welcome to talk to us, whenever you need it", Tatsuo reassured her, to her relief not commenting on how startled she seemed about her own words, "about whatever you want to talk about. Any friend of Haruka is a friend of Ramika and me."

"Thank you", Michiru gave back, managing a weak smile; Tatsuo smiled back at her, then pulled his arm back, the smaller woman immediately finding herself missing his comforting embrace, but biting back the urge to say anything about it, not wanting to appear pushy and needy to the man who had been so kind to her.

"It's going to be okay", Tatsuo reassured her, smiling at her and reaching out to briefly pat her shoulder, "trust me. I know her, she may be hot-headed at times and stubborn, but if you just give her a few signals, it should be alright."

Bravely, Michiru nodded, earning another smile from the alpha; then, he got up from his seat and excused himself, letting her know that he had some work to do, making her nod once more and managing to make her smile with a bit more conviction by telling her that she could come to his office anytime, should she need anything.

"Just say it", he added, "whatever you need. Our home is your home, for as long as you want it to be."

"Thank you, again", Michiru smiled, fighting the urge to jump into his arms now and hug the living daylights out of him, "Haruka's really lucky to have such great parents."

To her surprise and puzzlement, she saw _something _flicker in his eyes in response, an emotion she couldn't quite name; then, he smiled and it was gone, and while he turned and headed off to do his work, Michiru remained where she was, thinking about destiny and about what exactly she had seen in the alpha's eyes, if she had imagined it – and what it might mean if she hadn't.

* * *

During the next few days, Michiru stayed with her friend's parents in their house, spending as much time as she could with Haruka; to her relief, the blonde was getting stronger with each day, almost each hour that passed, and not long after she had been brought back from her feral state, Hitomi let them know that she could return to the house of her parents, strictly telling her that she had to stay in bed for at least another two days though and wasn't allowed to shift into beast form or full wolf during that time.

"Man, I can't wait to shift again", Haruka grumbled as she walked the short distance from the doctor's house to her home, leaning on Michiru since the long gash the daimon had torn into her leg to keep her from running wasn't healed properly yet and still pained her, even though she'd never admit it, "that's the first thing I'll do when I can get out of bed for good again."

"I imagine", Michiru smiled back at her, overjoyed by the close physical contact which was necessary for her to help Haruka to the house, "don't get me wrong, I'm glad there's been no attacks lately, especially not on you or me, but I kind of miss transforming, as well. It just makes me feel so…" She trailed off, not sure how to put what she felt when she changed into Sailor Neptune into words; fortunately for her, Haruka had no such qualms, smiling slightly as well as she continued for her. "Exhilarated? So much sharper, stronger and faster than you could ever be as a regular human? Cause that's how I feel."

"Exactly", Michiru agreed, "couldn't have said it better." She beamed up at the taller woman, then they had reached the Tenoh house and she opened the door for the two of them; somehow, they managed to get inside without Haruka letting go of the Senshi, Ramika already waiting for them there, the serious expression on her face immediately telling both younger women that something was up.

"I know Hitomi said you should go straight to bed", Haruka's mother stated after a brief greeting and a careful embrace, "but… your father and I, we have to talk to you first. You should be here for this, too, Michiru. Follow me please?"

Not sure what to expect, the two exchanged a look, then followed Ramika into the living room, where Tatsuo was sitting in his favourite armchair; he got up to embrace his daughter, as well, then gestured at the couch, Haruka and Michiru sitting down there while the alpha took the chair again, Ramika takin her seat on said chair's armrest, close to her husband.

"First, let me tell you how happy we are that you could leave Hitomi's house and come here", Tatsuo started, making his daughter smile, "and I promise I won't keep you away from your bed rest for long, but… there is something we have to tell you."

He fell silent, took in a deep breath as he sorted his thoughts; he cleared his throat, then looked at Haruka at last, the nervousness she could read in his eyes making her fidget uneasily, as well, despite the pain the movement caused to well up in her leg and side.

"Ever since you introduced us to Michiru", Tatsuo then started at last, sounding as nervous as he looked, "and told us that you believed you were meant to fight by her side, your mother and I have been thinking about how to handle this. Not the fighting, mind you, we know that is for a good cause, and we are proud that you are the one chosen for this. But… perhaps… you were not chosen quite the way it was supposed to happen."

"Huh", Haruka let out while Michiru swallowed heavily, sudden dread filling her as she could guess where this talk was going, "what do you mean, not quite the way it was supposed to happen?"

"When Michiru brought you back to us, I… saw something", Tatsuo let her know in response, prompting the Senshi to let out a small gasp as she had been sure that only she had seen it, "a symbol. I looked it up, naturally, since it was glowing right between your eyes and I wanted to know what it meant. It was the planetary sign for Uranus."

"I know", Haruka gave back, frowning now, clearly not having figured out yet what was going on, unlike Michiru, "Michiru told me. But what does this have to do with me being chosen for this?"

"I was hoping it would never come to this", Ramika was the one to answer her now, Tatsuo suddenly merely capable of swallowing heavily, finding himself unable to speak, "that we never would have to tell you this. But… Haruka, your father and I, we think you were meant to be a Senshi, as well. And… what we did… made that impossible."

"What you did", Haruka echoed, briefly glancing at Michiru when she felt the smaller woman grasp her hand and hold it tenderly, "what do you mean, what…"

She fell silent in mid-sentence, looking from her father to her mother, her brow furrowing before her eyes briefly widened as the realization hit her; unable to look her in the eye anymore, Ramika glanced away, while Tatsuo forced himself to look at her, holding her gaze as he waited for her to go on, sensing that she was about to realize the truth.

"I'm not your daughter, am I", she did so a moment later, her voice even hoarser than usual, "I wasn't born to the pack."

"Yes", Tatsuo confirmed, his voice soft now, Michiru squeezing her friend's again as she looked at her in concern, trying to figure out how the blonde might react to this unexpected revelation, "we… made you a wolf, after we'd… found you. Your parents, your biological parents, there'd been an accident, they were dead when we found them. You were alive, a small baby, and we took you with us, made you one of us. If we had known that you were meant to be a Senshi as well, we wouldn't have done this, but now it is too late, and we… we don't know what might happen now."

For a while, there was silence after that, Haruka just sitting there and looking at the man who had been a father to her for the past eighteen years; he held her gaze bravely, not allowing himself to look away, searching for the smallest hint which would tell him how she would react, once the truth about her parentage had sunk in.

"You're my parents", she finally said, prompting Ramika to look up sharply, the elder woman fearing that her adoptive daughter might now simply deny what she just had been told, only to be proven wrong by what the blonde said next, "I don't care if I was born to you, to the pack, or not. You raised me, you took care of me, always, and you've always been there for me. Maybe I was meant to be a Senshi, Sailor Uranus or something, and maybe I can't be that anymore because of the wolf, but… You're my parents."

"Oh thank God", Ramika breathed in response – and then she had left her seat and was hugging her daughter tight, the blonde returning the embrace just as tightly, forcing Michiru to move aside a bit so they'd have room for their heartfelt embrace, "I was so worried that you'd hate us for never telling you… That you'd want to leave us, despise us for what we did to you…"

Her voice broke, and she squeezed her eyes shut to hold back tears; looking as if she was close to crying, as well, Haruka shook her head, then, to Michiru's astonishment, managed a smile, pulling back slightly from the hug so she could look at her mother, even a hint of mischief in her voice when she replied. "For what you did to me? You gave me such an amazing gift, and you make it sound like it's a bad thing. I love being a werewolf, I'd never want to change that, no matter what. And to be completely honest, I kind of suspected something like that for a while now."

"What", Tatsuo cried out, loud enough to make them all jump, "what do you mean, you suspected? Why?!"

"Look at Mom and you", Haruka dryly replied, a slight giggle coming from Michiru as she realized what the taller woman was talking about, "and at the rest of the pack. All with black hair, or brown. I'm the only blonde with green eyes in the whole family, and I look nothing like Mom or you. You confirmed it, but it doesn't matter. You're my parents."

"Could have been some weird genetic thing", Tatsuo mumbled defensively, "but okay, yeah, you make a good point. Why did you never ask us?"

"Like I said, it doesn't matter", Haruka repeated, her mother pulling back from the hug at last, suddenly remembering the fact that the blonde was still injured, "my… biological parents might have been great people, or horrible people, I don't know. But what I do know is that you always took care of me, I've never felt like I don't belong here… You're my family."

"And you're the most wonderful daughter we ever could have asked for", Tatsuo gave back, his voice now hoarse as well; getting up from his seat, he moved to hug Haruka, too, having regained his composure by the time he pulled back from the embrace, sounding kind, but still stern when he told her that she better get into bed now, before Hitomi came to check on her and found her sitting on the couch.

"Yes Dad", Haruka gave back with a roll of her eyes, earning yet another giggle from Michiru while Tatsuo snorted; he gave her a strict look, and with a sigh, Haruka came to her feet, the Senshi helping her to her bedroom afterwards, relieved that this talk had gone so well and at the ease with which Haruka had handled the news, glad that not even this would cause strife in the family.


	23. Chapter 23

"Think my father's right?" Haruka wanted to know a while later, after having gotten comfortable in her bed and Michiru briefly had left her alone to get them something to drink, both of them holding a can of cooled soda now, "that I should have been a Senshi, too, but can't be, because of the wolf?"

"Yes", Michiru agreed at once, momentarily wondering why Haruka was bringing this up now – they had spoken of it already after all, in the doctor's house, and she had said as much already back then.

"So much about destiny not screwing up", Haruka said with a slight grumble in her voice, earning a smile from the smaller woman, "you'd think there'd be some sort of plan b in case the one chosen can't do it, for whatever reason. What if I had died in that crash, too?"

"I have no idea", Michiru had to admit, "I don't know much about these things. But I'm glad you're still the one chosen to fight with me, I wouldn't want it to be anyone else…"

Simultaneously, she realized that she had revealed more than she had wanted to now, and how horribly selfish this had to sound; to her relief, Haruka made no comment about how egoistical her view might have been, instead merely looked at her for a few seconds, then smiled slightly, her voice taking on a slightly flirtatious tone as she replied. "No one else, huh? I feel special."

By now, Michiru had heard that certain tone in her voice often enough that she found it hard, almost impossible, to take it seriously; without thinking much about it, she smiled coquettishly, refraining in the last second from fluttering her eyelashes, as well, a tone remarkably similar to Haruka's in her voice when she replied. "Oh, but you are. Didn't you know that yet?"

"Huh", Haruka let out, clearly not having expected this; her smile vanished as her expression grew fully serious, and for a moment, Michiru feared that she had done or said something wrong now, then the blonde squeezed her hand tenderly, her voice barely above a whisper as she spoke on. "Not as special as you. You have no idea how amazing you are, do you?"

Not sure what to reply to this, Michiru swallowed heavily, asking herself if this was just another stage of Haruka's flirting or if this was something more, something more _real _than her usual remarks; before she could come up with anything to say though, the blonde gave her another smile, not one of her patented smirks this time, but a small, almost shy curling of her lips – and then she leaned in, the Senshi's heart skipping a beat as she realized where this was leading.

Noticing the way Michiru took in a little, but sharp breath, and how her eyes briefly widened, then filled with anticipation, Haruka reached up with her free hand to cup the other woman's cheek; she had been thinking about doing just this, about kissing Michiru, for quite some time now, and now that it was about to happen, her heart was racing in her chest, making her feel almost as exhilarated as changing into the wolf did.

"Haruka!" Tatsuo yelled from the hallway mere seconds before their lips could touch, prompting her to flinch back in shock while Michiru actually let out a little surprised squeal, "we're heading out to get some supplies, be back later!"

"Yes Dad", Haruka called back after a moment of getting over her shock; suddenly feeling uncomfortable, she cleared her throat while she heard the front door close as her parents left, all at once sure that the moment had passed and nearly despairing at the thought that she might have to wait God knew how long for the next one.

"You know", Michiru started, making the blonde look at her again, with a curiously raised eyebrow, "when I started… feeling certain things, I told myself that now, there was no time for this. That we have to focus on the mission and can worry about anything else later."

Not sure where this was going now, Haruka kept quiet, merely holding her gaze in reply – it did seem a bit odd that Michiru would just randomly start talking about the mission again, with her not even fully healed again yet, but on the other hand, there had been a mention of certain feelings, and she sensed that the smaller woman had more to say, words she might never find the courage again for, should she interrupt her now.

"I kept telling myself this", Michiru went on, looking away from her and out the window, all at once appearing to be deep in thought, "until I almost believed it. Then you got hurt, and I thought I'd lost you."

She swallowed heavily, prompting Haruka to squeeze her hand yet again; still the blonde remained quiet though, a silence which wasn't uncomfortable forming between them for half a minute as Michiru gathered her thoughts, then continued at last, now looking back at Haruka, holding her gaze bravely.

"I wanted to know what you remember of going loup because I told you all this, and much more", she told the blonde, "and, honestly, I'm not sure I can ever repeat all those things. I'm sure you noticed by now, but I'm not very experienced in talking about my feelings. So, I guess instead of saying it all again, I'm just going to show you."

And with that, she was the one to lean in now, closing the distance between them, her lips on the taller woman's moments later; for two, three heartbeats, Haruka was too started by this to respond, then she regained her senses and kissed her back, with such fervour and something close to hunger that it took Michiru aback, giving her cause to wonder how long exactly the blonde had been feeling the same while part of her still was aware enough to notice the scent of roses filling the room.

Then, she pushed those thoughts out of her mind, fully focusing on Haruka, on the kiss and how good, how _right _it felt; she felt the blonde's hand slide from her cheek to her neck, pulling her closer, and nearly moaned into her mouth, the need to be as close as possible to her all at once so strong that it overwhelmed her.

Still, she managed to be mindful of Haruka's injuries as she embraced her, pulled her as close as she could without risking hurting her; the kiss deepened, and when she felt Haruka's fingers entangle in her long hair, run through it gently, she couldn't hold back the moan anymore, breathing heavily by the time she finally had to pull back.

"Haruka", she breathed, unsure if she'd been able to say anything else, had she wanted to; the blonde merely held her gaze in response for a few moments, breathing heavily as well – and then took the initiative and pulled her closer yet again, for yet another kiss, one which felt just as perfect and right as their first one had.

Again, they kissed until the risk of fainting from lack of oxygen was becoming too great to be ignored; and this time, it was Haruka who spoke up after the kiss, with that low growl in her voice Michiru knew so well, the sound and the single word the blonde said sending shivers up and down the smaller woman's spine.

"Mine", Haruka rumbled, still having both arms around her, her embrace briefly tightening; had it been anyone else, Michiru might have worried now, about this possessive streak she never had seen from the blonde before, but just as the kiss, it simply felt right, and all she could do was nod, a tender, happy smile curling her lips as she responded in kind.

"I am yours, and you are mine", she told the werewolf; the only answer she got was that Haruka let out a vaguely agreeing noise, then kissed her for a third time, and even though she knew that the threat to their lives and the mission was far from over, kissing Haruka was all she could focus on for now, everything else blown completely and thoroughly from her mind.

* * *

When Hitomi had told her that she had to stay in bed for another two days at least, Haruka had been dismayed at the thought, almost pissed off; thanks to the development of the relationship between Michiru and her, the thought didn't seem so bad now, not after Michiru had promised her that she'd stay by her side the whole time and that they'd actually have to drag her out kicking and screaming if they didn't want her to.

"Nobody's gonna drag you out", Haruka mumbled in response to that, now comfortably leaning against the headboard, Michiru resting in her arms, her head on the taller woman's shoulder, "I can promise you that."

"I should hope so", Michiru replied, blushing slightly as another memory forced itself to the front of her mind, "you know, when they were about to have you killed after you'd gone loup, I told Tatsuo that, if he tried that, I'd transform and show him what a Senshi can do. I'm really glad he's not pissed at me for that."

Momentarily, she worried how Haruka might react to learning that her father had almost given the pack the order to kill her; before she could fret though if perhaps, she had said too much yet again, the blonde smirked slightly, amusement in her voice as she replied.

"He doesn't hold it against you, I'm sure he understands", she told her, moving one hand to rub her shoulder and upper arm in a tender gesture which sent shivers up and down Michiru's spine, "but I still suggest you don't make a habit of threatening my father with your powers."

"Of course not", Michiru indignantly replied, shaking her head as if to underline her words, "even though I would have done it, had he really tried to have you killed."

"You know", Haruka mused out loud in reply, earning a curious look from her partner, "that might be an interesting fight to see. If you can keep your distance, you can just fire your attack at a wolf, until he or she goes down. That could be an advantage, but in the wrong terrain, you'd probably go down pretty fast, once the wolf got close enough."

"In that tiny room, I would have been screwed then", Michiru grimaced, earning a low chuckle from the blonde, "but out in the woods, who knows… good thing none of you attacked me there though, there were so many of the pack and…"

She trailed off as she finally, consciously, remembered that it hadn't just been wolves of the pack there, her eyes going wide as she abruptly sat up, startling Haruka into letting out a small, surprised noise, the werewolf clearly having no idea what was going on.

"He was there", Michiru explained in response to her confused look, "that other wolf, the one you met at the temple… He and Sailor Mars."

"Sailor Mars", Haruka echoed in surprise, both eyebrows now practically shooting up, "why would she… Wait."

She fell silent, furrowing her brow now, and Michiru could almost hear the gears in her brain turn as she thought back to how they first had met Yuuichirou and the woman who claimed responsibility for him, remembering the other girls she had seen there, her mind racing as she tried to puzzle it all together.

"They do look remarkably similar, don't they", she said out loud after a minute, making Michiru nod, "and there were five of them, not counting the wolf. Just like there are five of those other Senshi."

"Yes", Michiru confirmed, glad that she wasn't the only one to think that – now that things had calmed down again, she'd had some time to ponder this, and had become more and more convinced that Rei was Sailor Mars, and that her four friends most likely were the other Senshi.

"I wonder if she figured out who I am", Michiru thought out loud, "I don't think I said your name back in the woods, but she knows you're a werewolf, and there aren't that many blonde wolves around…"

"None but me, you mean", Haruka replied with a sigh, "so yeah, if she's not completely dumb, she probably figured it out."

"Think we should contact them?" the smaller woman wanted to know, Haruka's response coming in form of a shrug and thus not being very helpful, "tell her that we know? Or at least warn her about Kaorinite, perhaps, she's not just after us, but after them, as well, she hasn't tried anything since that daimon attacked you. Maybe she's going after them now."

"You would have felt that, though, right", the blonde wanted to know, frowning now, "the call of the sea, as you call it?"

"I should have, yes", Michiru agreed, "but… honestly, I haven't been very focused on this the last few days, I was too worried about you…"

"Perhaps we should drop by at that temple once I can get out and about again", Haruka suggested after thinking about this for a moment, "just to make sure. Working with them might not be an option, but that doesn't mean we can't warn them."

"Yes", Michiru nodded at once, "as soon as you feel up to it, we can pay them another visit."

None of them had to say out loud that Michiru going there alone wasn't an option, not with Kaorinite still out there, possibly unaware of the fact that Haruka hadn't been killed and after her now; one exchanged look was enough to confirm that they both thought the same about this topic, and momentarily, Michiru was awed at how easily they understood each other, could communicate with a simple glance, a feat she knew many others never accomplished, no matter how long they knew each other.

"But for now, you should get some more rest", she said out loud, smiling at how Haruka rolled her eyes in response, "you're not fully healed yet, and I'm not going anywhere with you until you are."

"That's blackmail", Haruka pointed out, the only answer from Michiru being a shrug; and before she could try to say anything else, Michiru was kissing her again, her annoyance at the ordered bed rest yet again forgotten as all she could focus on was the smaller woman and how amazing kissing her made her feel.


	24. Chapter 24

Even though Michiru had been there to keep her company most of the time, the two days passed annoyingly slow, and as the morning of the third one dawned, Haruka decided that she'd been in bed long enough; thanks to her accelerated healing, the wounds were almost fully gone by now, anyway, faint scars left this time, telling anyone who knew about her and about what silver did to werewolves how she had received them.

"You must be glad to be out of bed", Ramika observed as Michiru and her daughter joined her in the kitchen, where she was busy making breakfast for the two; Tatsuo already had left, off for pack work, and once she'd make sure that the two younger women were okay, Ramika was planning to do the same, knowing her husband could need all the help he could get to deal with the sometimes complicated pack politics and their contacts to the regular humans.

"Hell yes I am", Haruka gave back, only to cringe when her mother shot her a look, then reprimanded her with "Language", the sort of resigned way she said it with telling Michiru that this wasn't the first time they had this exchange, and probably wouldn't be the last.

"We gotta head out today", the blonde now told her mother as she moved to the coffee can after having retrieved two cups from the cupboard, "but we shouldn't be gone for long. We just gotta talk to someone."

"Senshi business, I take it", Ramika gave back, smiling; glancing at her, Haruka nodded, and that was the exact moment it happened. Later on, when Tatsuo asked her about it, his wife would tell him that she never had seen anything like it before, never had seen two people connected to each other as strongly as her daughter and Michiru; and even though she normally was the one better with words, she found herself unable to voice what she had felt, the pride at being allowed to witness this – and the faint, but still ugly envy, because she knew that, no matter how much Tatsuo and she loved each other, she'd never have the same connection with him.

They both froze in exactly the same instant, their whole body going stiff; then, they exchanged one look, and Ramika could almost see the thoughts of the two connecting, Haruka giving the smallest, briefest of nods in response to the unspoken question Michiru had asked her.

"We gotta go now", the blonde then told her mother, putting the cups back on the kitchen counter almost absent-mindedly, "emergency. Senshi business."

"Take care", was the only answer Ramika gave her, making both of them nod; Haruka shot her a brief, grateful look, then another look was exchanged with Michiru, and both of them headed out of the kitchen, hurriedly putting on their shoes and jacket before they left the house.

"Let's take Dad's car", Haruka suggested, already moving over to said vehicle, "if he needs to go anywhere, he can use Mom's or borrow one from someone else of the pack, and I have the feeling we don't have time to run."

"Me too", Michiru agreed, hurrying to the passenger side of the car; Haruka got behind the steering wheel, and again, no communication was necessary as she started the car, then pushed the button which lowered the window on her side, Michiru doing the same with hers, both of them just knowing that following the call would be much easier then.

"You're better at this than I am", Haruka told her as she drove off the pack grounds and onto the road leading to the city, "tell me if I'm going the wrong way."

"Will do", Michiru reassured her, then both of them fell quiet as they focused on the call; as always, Michiru could feel it tugging at the very core of her being, guiding her towards the next attack, and it seemed that by now, it had grown much stronger for Haruka, as well – even though she had claimed that Michiru was better at this than she was, she drove without ever hesitating, steering the car through the streets of Tokyo as if she knew exactly where she was going.

"There", Michiru mumbled a short time later, gesturing up ahead – at the television tower looming up in the distance, a mass of dark clouds gathered in the sky above it, sending a shiver up and down her spine as she couldn't help herself, but just had to see this as some sort of omen.

"Yes", Haruka agreed, with that distinctive growl in her voice, and upon looking over, Michiru saw that she had changed, to the degree she normally used during their fights, coarse hair having spread from her head over her face to her throat, the hands which were gripping the steering wheel now just as hairy and equipped with sharp, pointed claws.

This was all the incentive Michiru needed, and even though she never had transformed in a moving car before, she figured that it should work out just fine; out of nowhere, the transformation stick slid into her hand, and she murmured the phrase under her breath this time – saying it out loud or even shouting it in a driving car, with just Haruka there, would have been unnecessarily melodramatic, after all.

Briefly, bright, blue light flashed around her, and she had a second to ask herself if perhaps, she should have waited after all, worried that the light might have blinded Haruka and cause them to crash; and then, it was gone again, the car still safely on the road, with Sailor Neptune in the passenger seat now, Haruka giving her a slightly exasperated look before she focused on the road again.

"Nothing against your transformation", she then said, turning onto the street which led to the tower, "but next time, do it outside? All that light in this little car, I nearly crashed."

"Sorry", Neptune apologized, blushing slightly; the blonde smirked at her, exposing teeth sharp and pointy and which would have alarmed anyone else, but Neptune just smiled back, then Haruka stopped the car and without another word, they both got out of it, looking up at the tower afterwards, Neptune moving closer to Haruka and grasping her hand, a strange sense of foreboding filling her all at once.

"Something major's gonna happen up there", the werewolf said out loud what she was thinking, "I'm not sure what, but it's gonna be big."

"Yes", Neptune agreed, feeling a bit calmer when Haruka squeezed her hand; and then, without letting go of each other, they got moving, walking fast and purposefully, neither of them glancing away from the tower once, the certainty that something big would happen mere minutes from now only growing bigger with each step they were taking.

* * *

The lobby of the tower was surprisingly deserted, not a single of the TV station employees in sight; this served both Haruka and Neptune quite well though, as it simultaneously limited the risk of any civilian casualties and made sure there wouldn't be any people around who might recognize Haruka later on, despite her wolfish appearance.

"Nothing going on down here", Neptune said out loud, glancing around just to make sure she was right, "we have to go up. Stairs?"

"Stairs", Haruka agreed at once, "elevator is too risky, if whoever is up there notices we're coming, they might shut them down or something."

Once again, she was grateful for her werewolf bonuses, in particular for the heightened strength and stamina being what she was gave her – anyone else would have ended up winded, having to run up so many flights of stairs, but thanks to the fact that they both weren't fully human, neither she, nor Neptune were affected by it, hurrying up the stairs with ease, as if they were just taking a stroll down the sidewalk.

When they made it roughly two thirds up though, Haruka suddenly slowed, then stopped; and before Neptune had the chance to ask her what was wrong, she sniffed audibly, then frowned, moving closer to the door leading from the stairway back into the building, another deep sniff following.

"Someone's in there", she then murmured under her breath, glancing at her partner, "and not just regular humans. The smell is all… _wrong_, like that daimon in the woods."

"Another one made of silver?" Neptune demanded to know, worried; to her dismay, Haruka merely shrugged in response, sounding slightly regretful when she replied. "Not sure. It doesn't smell exactly the same, just… as wrong as the other one did. Guess there's only one way to find out."

And with the last words, she reached for the door, opening it as soundlessly as possible and carefully pushing it open; as soon as it had opened far enough though to let them peek through, they both realized that there wouldn't have been any need for caution, the four Senshi and one daimon in the room behind it too busy with fighting each other to pay any attention on the door.

Just as Haruka and Neptune looked, the blonde they recognized as Sailor Venus, even though she was wearing her hair strangely similar to Sailor Moon that day, landed a powerful kick, sending the daimon to the floor, the creature being unfortunate enough to land awkwardly on its arm, the hand snapping off at the wrist with the sound of shattering glass.

"Glass", Neptune whispered next to her, "it's made of glass. I guess that's fortunate."

"Much better than silver", Haruka agreed, holding back an amused snort when the daimon had the gall to complain at Venus for being too violent and breaking its hand off; and then, it dug out what appeared to be a warranty, of all things, immensely relieved moments later.

"This thing is absurd", Neptune said, shaking her head; nodding, Haruka decided that this had been going on long enough and forcefully pushed the door open the rest of the way, hard enough now to have it clang against the wall, all five in the room glancing at them in surprise now.

"Neptune", Mars was the first to recover her composure, "and your partner. I see you have recovered."

"…yes", Haruka replied after a moment, those few words confirming what Michiru and she already had spoken about, namely that Mars – _Rei, that's her civilian name, _her brain helpfully supplied – had figured out the connection between Neptune and her was eerily similar to the one between Michiru and her, "I hear you had something to do with keeping that thing away from me after I'd gone down. Thank you."

"Most welcome", Mars replied with a smile, while the rest looked on in confusion; then, she seemed to remember that there was business at hand, and she vaguely gestured at the stairs behind them, managing to sound both determined and pleading as she went on. "Sailor Moon is up there, with Tuxedo Mask and Kaorinite. Mind lending her a hand while we finish off this glass daimon?"

"Excuse me", said daimon protested, no one really caring though, Venus merely kicking it again to keep it down when it tried to get up; and even though so far, working with them hadn't seemed like an option to the couple, once again exchanging one look was enough to make them both nod, Mars looking absurdly relieved at their quiet agreement.

"We'll join you as fast as we can", she promised, earning another nod from the two; and then, without another word, they got moving again, running up the stairs now, already hearing the sounds of battle when there were still two floors left to the top.

"Surprise will be on our side", Neptune said, not even breathing heavy despite running up stairs in those ridiculously high heels, "let me hit her first, and while she hopefully is stunned from that, you can try to get close to her and take her out. But don't do it if it's too dangerous!"

"I will if I have to do it to protect you, no matter how dangerous it is", Haruka gave back, just as unfazed by the running as her partner was; the Senshi wanted to protest, wanted to tell her that she shouldn't risk her life for her, but before she could do so, they had made it to the top, and she had to focus on the battle up ahead.

So far, it seemed that Sailor Moon and her mysterious helping hand, a tall, rather capable guy named Tuxedo Mask, were holding their own against Kaorinite; she was wielding what appeared to be a glass sword, fighting Tuxedo Mask up close, the latter using his cane to ward off her blows, while Sailor Moon was moving from left to right and back behind them, clearly trying to find an angle from which to attack.

The position of her companion made it impossible for Neptune to do as she had planned, namely fire off her attack right after spotting Kaorinite; feeling the urge to growl, crazily wondering if Haruka was rubbing off on her, she moved to the left as well, trying to figure out how to attack so it would hit their enemy and not Tuxedo Mask.

"I'll distract her", Haruka mumbled next to her, making sure to keep her voice low – so far, Kaorinite hadn't noticed them, and she didn't want to attract any attention until they both were ready to, "try to get her into your line of fire."

"Take care", Neptune gave back, not liking the idea much, but realizing that right now, they didn't have any other options – Tuxedo Mask's parries were slowing down, and he didn't even try to attack anymore, fully on the defence now, making it clear that it was only a matter of time until Kaorinite would skewer him on her sword.

"Be ready", Haruka replied – and then nearly startled Neptune into letting out a cry by abruptly, and with surprising speed, shifting into beast form, the change happening so fast this time that she barely realized it was done by the time the blonde was already moving, her loud growl echoing through the night as a few powerful leaps brought her closer to the two fighters.

"You!" Kaorinite cried out, sounding both surprised and annoyed, "why are you still alive?!"

The only response she got was another growl, then she had to jump back as Haruka swiped at her with sharp claws; this gave Tuxedo Mask the chance to get out of the danger zone, and he did just that, rushing back to Sailor Moon's side, just as Neptune moved up to her, as well.

"Be ready", she repeated what Haruka had told her not even a minute ago, "once my partner is out of the way, I'll attack her, and then it'll be your turn."

"Yes", Sailor Moon nodded, not questioning this sudden helpfulness from the other Senshi, even though it came as a surprise after their previous, slightly unpleasant run-ins; calling to her powers, Neptune readied her attack, prepared to let it fly the second she had the chance to, her heart hammering up to her throat as she watched how Haruka jumped back now from a rather clumsily executed attack, hoping that she'd have the chance to step in before the blonde would get hurt yet again.


	25. Chapter 25

The sword made of glass made the fight more complicated, but not necessarily more dangerous, as glass was incapable of doing the kind of lasting damage silver could do; thus, the weapon wasn't what distracted Haruka from finishing it quickly, right then and there.

What did distract her what the strange pull she was feeling, as if someone – or something – she couldn't quite hear called out to the very core of her soul; she neither knew where it came from, nor what it meant, but it was distracting as hell, and a few times, she almost got cut, thanks to the odd sensation.

_Just make sure Michiru can get a hit in, _she told herself as she moved back, out of the way of yet another stab, _you can worry about this once Kaorinite has been taken down._

Another leap brought her out of the danger zone, just as it had been planned when Neptune and she had joined the fight; and to her relief, but not really her surprise, Neptune took the chance given the very next second, her voice echoing through the quiet night as she unleashed her attack, the glowing blue energy shooting past her moments later and hitting Kaorinite right in the chest, hard enough to blast her back a few feet before she fell.

"There", Neptune pressed out between grit teeth, her tone prompting Sailor Moon to look at her with slight unease, "that's for what you did to Haruka."

Too late, she realized that she had just let her partner's name slip to someone who technically wasn't supposed to know it; before she could ponder this further though, a low groan came from where Kaorinite had landed – and then she came back to her feet, prompting Neptune to let out a shocked gasp, the woman getting back up being the last thing she had expected to happen.

"Thought you'd taken me down, did you", the redhead immediately taunted her, smiling cruelly, "well, my dear, unlike the daimons, I don't go down so easily. Let's hope you didn't use up all your power for that one hit, huh?"

She hadn't, which was fortunate, but she also knew that there wasn't much left – contrary to popular belief, the Sailor Senshi did not have unlimited powers at their disposal, and Neptune knew that she only had enough left for one more attack, perhaps two, if she was lucky – she had put so much energy into this first strike, hoping that it'd take Kaorinite down sufficiently for Sailor Moon to finish her off, and judging from the smirk on her face, Kaorinite knew it.

"Thought I'd be weaker, didn't you", she went on with the taunting, not even trying to stop Haruka from moving back to Neptune's side, still in beast form, down on all fours now, the Senshi once again moving one hand to rub her neck soothingly when she heard her growl lowly, "that one powerful hit would be enough to take me down? Sorry to disappoint you, but I'm not like our daimons."

Her smile widened, and she brought up the sword; for a crazy second, Neptune thought she would throw it, but instead, her eyes narrowed – before a myriad of sharp glass splinters shot from the blade, somehow without diminishing or damaging the weapon, forcing Haruka and her to jump apart with a daring leap, the glass hitting the ground where they had been standing seconds ago and, to their shock, tearing deeply into the concrete.

Momentarily, Kaorinite seemed unsure whom to aim for, now that the two stood several feet apart and Sailor Moon and Tuxedo Mask had retreated farther behind them; then, she apparently remembered that glass wouldn't do much harm to the werewolf and focused on Neptune, the Senshi this time reacting just a second too slow, a pained yelp coming from her as the glass dug into her right leg, ripping through the skin and the muscle beneath with ease, blood gushing from the deep cuts the blink of an eye later.

With her vision greying at the edges, something she knew to be a sign for oncoming shock and unconsciousness, Neptune dimly heard Haruka let out a strange mixture of roar and yelp, most likely a response to her injury; Sailor Moon cried out for her as well, and that was odd, after all, they hadn't been all too friendly with each other before, so why should the younger Senshi care about what happened to her now…

"Quite the dilemma, eh", she heard Kaorinite tease, "if you attack me directly, I'll just impale you with this and then finish her off while you heal, and if you try to protect her, I'll just cut you down and then finish her off while you heal. Face it, wolf, there is nothing you can…"

She trailed off, the somewhat startled noise coming from her mixing with the loud growls Haruka was letting out; somehow, Neptune managed to turn her head, some of her sudden wariness pushed aside by the sight of her partner down on all fours, her body changing shape yet again, from the bulky beast form to the more or less regular wolf, only the size of her telling anyone who might see her that she wasn't just some wild animal.

_But she said they only do this during the full moon, _Neptune crazily thought to herself, Kaorinite clearly surprised by this change as well, since she just stood there and stared, her eyebrows almost up to her hairline, _she said it takes too much energy otherwise, why is she…_

The change finished surprisingly fast again, and once more, Haruka growled, loud enough to make it seem as if the ground was shaking… and belatedly, Neptune realized that it didn't just seem that way, that the ground really _was _shaking, strange flickers of golden light falling from the wolf's body and gently drifting to the floor.

_Just like the light I saw when she'd gone loup, _Neptune remembered, her heart speeding up as she tried to figure out what this meant, if it was connected to the destiny Haruka perhaps had been supposed to have, but which had been destroyed by the magic of the werewolves, _what the Hell is going on?_

It was obvious that Kaorinite asked herself the same, having taken a cautious stance, the sword raised slightly; before she could make up her mind about what to do next though, Haruka let out another growl, the golden specks of light now flowing together to surround her – and then she shot forward, the light moving with her and forming what looked like a comet's tail behind her, her speed so high that Neptune could barely follow her, a shocked cry coming from Kaorinite as the wolf barrelled into her, the light exploding with tremendous force at the impact, both the massive body of the wolf and the blast being enough to throw the redhead back three times as far as Neptune's attack had.

She landed with a sickening _thud, _unable to do anything else but grown weakly, the attack clearly having done a lot of damage; seeing the chance given, Sailor Moon moved in for the final hit, but before she could unleash it, the portion on which Kaorinite had landed creaked ominously, long cracks suddenly spreading from her point of impact – before the ground broke away beneath her and she fell, a shocked cry coming from her as she vanished from sight, her sword and plenty of stonework going down into the darkness with her.

* * *

"Wow", Sailor Moon was the first to break the silence, "that was… wow. I didn't know werewolves can do that."

"I doubt all werewolves can", Neptune gave back while she struggled to sit up, Haruka moving over to her and, with a low, sympathetic whine, moved the top of her head beneath the Senshi's hand, earning a slight smile from her partner before she started running her fingers through the soft fur, giving her exactly what she wanted and needed.

"It's a long story", she added at the questioning looks from both Sailor Moon and Tuxedo Mask, "one which I might tell once I'm not bleeding from rather painful wounds, so if you'd excuse me…"

"We can help", Sailor Moon offered in response, while Haruka took her clue from the smaller woman's words and moved slightly again, allowing her to hold on to her so she could get up, "take care of those wounds for you…"

While she spoke, the other Senshi came rushing up to the top of the tower, surprised to find Kaorinite gone and Haruka now in full wolf form; managing a smile, Neptune came to her feet with the wolf's help, making sure to keep most of her weight off her injured leg and still holding on to Haruka, even though her beast or human form would have made this much easier.

"Seems like we're late", Jupiter pointed out, "where's Kaorinite?"

"Gone", Tuxedo Mask was the one to answer that, then added how it had happened; and while he talked, Mars was focused on Neptune, a slight smile on her face as well as they exchanged a look, the simple glance being enough to tell the older Senshi that Mars knew her secret and knew that she was aware of hers – but that she hadn't said anything to the rest of the group, keeping it secret for reasons only known to herself so far.

"Werewolf", Mars spoke up as soon as Tuxedo Mask had finished his explanation of what had happened, to Neptune's relief keeping Haruka's name to herself, "you better take Neptune somewhere safe. A calm place where she can heal."

In response, Haruka let out a low growl, managing not to sound threatening though – and then, she shifted yet again, back to beast form, picking Neptune up on her arms with exceeding care afterwards, making sure to neither hurt her with her far above strength, nor with the claws her fingernails had turned into.

"Oh my", Venus let out while the beast started moving, back to the stairway, "this looks like Beauty and the Beast."

"Venus", Mars just sighed in exasperation while Haruka let out a snort, only Neptune recognizing it as laughter; hiding her face in the werewolf's shoulder to mute her giggles, she clung tighter to her as she was carried off down the stairs, her pain almost forgotten as relief and joy about the defeat of their enemy finally registered and left her with the vague suspicion that at least for a while, they would have some peace now.


	26. Epilogue

Author's Note: Sooo I realized the last chapter is kinda short. So instead of making you wait for it until Thursday, I decided to post it today. Enjoy!

* * *

Kaorinite was gone, and Michiru's wounds were healing, slower than Haruka's had, but faster than a regular human's would have; and even though they both knew that the mission wasn't over, that surely, someone else would take Kaorinite's place soon, they allowed themselves days of relaxing and rest at the pack grounds, giving Michiru the time she needed to heal and each other time to simply enjoy their relationship.

They spoke of what had happened during that final fight, of the strange, so completely new attack Haruka had used against their foe, but none of them, not even the blonde who had experienced it, could say for sure what it had been; so far, Haruka wasn't even sure that she could do it again, even though the transformation into the wolf came so easily to her now, no matter if there was a full moon or not – but neither of them minded, both of them knowing that even if she couldn't, they were well equipped to handle what might be thrown at them next anyway.

Two days after the fight, Rei came by, confirming that she knew Michiru's identity and thus had figured out Haruka's too; she also told them what Michiru already had known though, namely that no one else of her Senshi Team knew, and that, as far as she was concerned, there was no need to tell them yet.

They both thanked her for this, and in a show of gratitude, Haruka offered to introduce Yuuichirou to her pack, after he had been exiled from the one he had been born to; Rei agreed with enthusiasm and happiness, and a meeting was settled, during which Haruka and her parents would be present, to get to know the young man better before he might be introduced to the rest of the pack.

As they both had anticipated, five days after Kaorinite's defeat, the attacks started again; most of the victims were unconscious by the time the Senshi and her companion found them, but every now and then, one would be awake, just barely, just enough to see them – the magnificent figure of Sailor Neptune and the large, sandy-furred wolf by her side, standing up to the monsters to protect them, the blue glow of Neptune and the golden one of the wolf uniting to form something so beautiful it haunted them in their dreams, long after the attack was over.

"Our mission might not be over yet", Neptune told her partner after yet another successful defeat of a daimon, and yet another returned Heart Crystal, "but as long as we're in this together, there's no fight I'm not willing to go to."

An agreeing growl was the only answer she got from her four-legged companion, and she let out a small laugh; the one they had saved this time, a young girl barely out of her teens, raised her head just enough to see them walk off, then slumped back down, the image of the two something she'd treasure until the end of her days, a thing of such pure beauty that she knew, no matter how long she'd live, she'd never see anything like it again. And as she drifted off into unconsciousness, the attack finally taking its toll on her, the scent of roses was the last thing she registered, somehow giving her the knowledge that she was safe now and that no harm would come to her – not for as long as Sailor Neptune and her companion were there to look out for them.

End.

Author's Note 2: Okay, all you guys are probably yelling at me now for not resolving the whole talisman thing. But! If I had, this would have become a 200 page epic. So instead, I decided to do a sequel, which is almost finished right now and which I will start posting on Thursday. :) Until then, a sincere Thank You to everyone who has read, reviewed, followed and faved this - I'm overwhelmed by how well my first try at this fandom was received.

Also, just for the fun of it and because I love promoting good music, here is a bit of the music which served as inspiration during the writing of this story:

Epica – The Quantum Enigma – The Essence of Silence, Reverence, Omen (The Ghoulish Malady)  
Machinae Supremacy – Phantom Shadow – The Villain of this Story, Europa, Throne of Games  
Siren's Cry – Scattered Horizons – Draconian Spectrum, Sahara Sagas Part 1, Oratory & Sins  
Two Steps from Hell – Archangel – Archangel, Dragon Rider, Strength of a Thousand Men  
Within Temptation – Hydra – Paradise, Dangerous, Covered by Roses, Silver Moonlight


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